2015 African U-17 Championship Explained

Tourney Name:African U-17 Championship
Year:2015
Other Titles:Coupe d'Afrique des nations des moins de 17 ans 2015
Size:150px
Dates:15 February – 1 March
Num Teams:8
Confederations:1
Venues:2
Cities:1
Count:1
Matches:16
Goals:45
Top Scorer: Victor Osimhen
(4 goals)
Prevseason:2013
Nextseason:2017

The 2015 African U-17 Championship was the 11th edition of the biennial international youth football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) for players aged 17 and below. The tournament took place in Niamey, Niger, and was originally scheduled to be held between 2 and 16 May.[1] However, the date of the opening match was pushed forward to 15 February, with the tournament scheduled to conclude with the final on 1 March.[2]

The semi-finalists of the tournament qualified for the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Chile.[3] Mali won the tournament, and were joined by South Africa, Guinea, and Nigeria as CAF qualifiers for the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup.

Qualification

See main article: 2015 African U-17 Championship qualification.

The qualifiers were played between June and September 2014. At the end of the qualification phase, seven teams joined the hosts Niger.

Player eligibility

During CAF Executive Committee meetings held on 21 and 22 September 2013, the CAF Medical Committee was instructed to continue the use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans to determine the ages of players and consequently their eligibility to participate in the qualifying stages of the tournament. It was also directed to ensure the authenticity of the process as well as the identity of the players involved.[4]

Qualified teams

Disqualified

Venues

CitiesVenuesCapacity
NiameyStade Général Seyni Kountché35,000
Stade Municipal10,000

Match officials

The referees were:[6]

Referees
Assistant referees

Draw

The draw for the final tournament was held on 21 December 2014, 11:00, at the CAF Headquarters in Cairo, Egypt.[7] Niger and Ivory Coast were seeded and placed into Groups A and B respectively.[8]

Squads

See main article: 2015 African U-17 Championship squads.

Each team can register a squad of 21 players (three of whom must be goalkeepers).[3]

Group stage

The group winners and runners-up advanced to the semi-finals and qualified for the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup.[9] [10]

TiebreakersThe teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If tied on points, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:[3]
  1. Number of points obtained in games between the teams concerned;
  2. Goal difference in games between the teams concerned;
  3. Goals scored in games between the teams concerned;
  4. Goal difference in all games;
  5. Goals scored in all games;
  6. Fair Play point system in which the number of yellow and red cards are evaluated;
  7. Drawing of lots.

All times .

Group A

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Group B

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Knockout stage

In the knockout stages, if a match is level at the end of normal playing time, kicks from the penalty mark are used to determine the winner (no extra time shall be played).[3]

Semi-finals

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Final

Goalscorers

4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
Own goal

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Decisions of CAF Executive Committee on hosting of Junior and Senior CAF Competitions . Confederation of African Football . 11 November 2012 . 27 September 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120101122928/http://www.cafonline.com/football/news/11521-decisions-of-caf-executive-committee-on-hosting-of-junior-and-senior-caf-competitions.html . 1 January 2012 .
  2. Web site: Gambia suspended from all competitions for two years. Confederation of African Football. 2014-05-03. 2015-05-05.
  3. Web site: Regulations of the African U-17 Championship. Cafonline.com.
  4. Web site: Confederation Africaine de Football Press Release. CAF. 26 September 2013. pdf. 22 September 2013. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20130927220552/http://www.cafonline.com/userfiles/file/Amr%20El%20Sadek/Press%20Release%20Exco%2009-13.pdf. 27 September 2013.
  5. Web site: Appeal Board upheld disqualification of Ghana U-17 team. CAF. 27 November 2014.
  6. Web site: Referees. CAFOnline.com. February 8, 2015.
  7. Web site: U-17 & U-20 draw set for Dec. 21. CAF. 15 December 2014.
  8. Web site: Hosts Niger draw neighbours Nigeria in opener. CAF. 21 December 2014.
  9. Web site: Fixtures of the Final Tournament of the 11th African U17 Championship, Niger 2015. CAF.
  10. Web site: Organising Committee adjusts Niger 2015 kick-off times. CAF. 15 February 2015.