| Tourney Name: | African U-23 Championship |
| Year: | 2011 |
| Other Titles: | بطولة إفريقيا تحت 23 سنة لكرة القدم 2011 |
| Size: | 180px |
| Country: |  Morocco |
| Dates: | 26 November – 10 December |
| Num Teams: | 8 |
| Confederations: | 1 |
| Venues: | 2 |
| Cities: | 2 |
| Count: | 1 |
| Matches: | 16 |
| Goals: | 35 |
| Top Scorer: | Abdelaziz Barrada  Raheem Lawal(3 goals) |
| Nextseason: | 2015 |
The 2011 African U-23 Championship was the first edition of the football tournament for players under 23 years.[1] It was originally scheduled to be hosted by Egypt from 26 November to 10 December 2011. However, less than two months prior to the start of the tournament, Egyptian authorities decided against hosting the competition because of security concerns.[2] On 13 October 2011, Morocco was chosen as the replacement to host the tournament.[3]
The tournament also doubles up as the qualifiers for the 2012 Summer Olympics. The top 3 placed teams qualified automatically for the 2012 Summer Olympics football tournament, while the 4th best placed team qualify for a play-off with an AFC counterpart.[4]
The Confederation of African Football chose to create a tournament and qualifying phase to decide which associations could represent Africa at the 2012 Olympic Games. Of CAF's 53 association nations, 39 agreed to participate in the qualifiers for the tournament.
To qualify for the tournament, participating nations had to overcome three two-legged qualifying stages.
Qualified teams:
| Marrakech | Tangier | |
|---|---|---|
| Stade de Marrakech | Ibn Batouta Stadium | |
| Capacity: 45,000 | Capacity: 45,000 | |
The draw for the tournament was held on 24 September 2011 during the CAF Executive Committee meeting in Cairo, Egypt.[5]
The following referees were chosen for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations.[6]
| width=44% | Referees | width=44% | Linesmen |
|---|---|---|---|
 Néant AlioumBakary Gassama  Sylvester KirwaHamada Nampiandraza Ali Lemghaifry Bouchaïb El Ahrach Slim JedidiJanny Sikazwe Reserve  Joseph LampteyAboubacar Mario Bangoura |  Jean-Claude Birumushahu Moussa YanoussaRichard Bouende-Malonga  Angesom Ogbamariam Aden Marwa Range Moffat Champiti Redouane Achik Felicien KabandaJason Damoo Anouar HmilaReserve  Yacin Hassan Egueh |
See main article: article and 2011 African U-23 Championship squads.
All times given as local time (UTC)
If two or more teams tied in their points, the following tie-breaker is used:[7]
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All times given as local time (UTC+1)
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The team of the tournament with substitutes:[8]
Ahmed El Shenawy
Mahan Marc Goua, Moaz El-Henawy, 
Remy Ebanega, Zakarya Bergdich Hossam Hassan, Abdelaziz Barrada, Raheem Lawal Youness Mokhtar, 
Abdoulaye Sané Ousmane Mané (GK); Ahmed Hegazy and Mohamed Salah, Allen Nono, Laglais Xavier Kouassi and Jean Michael Seri, Soufiane Bidaoui and Adnane Tighadouini, Danny Uchechi, Mohamed Chalali Ahmed Shroyda Emmanuel Ndong Mba Youness Mokhtar Georges Henri Griffiths Moussa Koné Lacina Traoré Ahmed Magdi Marwan Mohsen Mohamed Elneny Mohamed Salah Saleh Gomaa Johan Diderot Lengoualama Allen Nono Landry Obiang Obiang André Biyogo Poko Lionel Yacouya Adnane Tighadouini Kara Mbodj Abdoulaye Sané Omar WadeSome have questioned the need for the tournament and believe that the CAF-organised Under-23 football tournament, the 2011 All-Africa Games' football tournament should have been used as a qualifying tournament. The increase in number of national U-23 fixtures caused some domestic league schedules to be revised and some league games took place with weakened teams.[9]
There has been criticism from fans towards clubs who have not allowed their players to participate in the qualifying stages as the tournament is not featured on the FIFA Calendar whilst the Olympics tournament is. In effect this means that African nations can call on European-based players for the Olympic tournament who were not able to participate in qualifying due to club commitments.[10]
The following three teams from CAF qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics men's football tournament.
| Team | Qualified on | data-sort-type="number" | Previous appearances in Summer Olympics1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| [11] | 0 (Debut) | ||
| 6 December 2011 | 6 (1964, 1972, 1984, 1992, 2000, 2004) | ||
| 10 (1920, 1924, 1928, 1936, 1948, 1952, 1960, 1964, 1984, 1992) | |||
| 0 (Debut) |
1 Bold indicates champions for that year.