Namibia has withdrawn from the qualifiers of the 2022 African Nations Championship (CHAN) due to financial problems.

A statement from FIFA Normalisation Committee [NC] of the Namibia Football Association (NFA) has confirmed the development.

“The FIFA Normalisation Committee [NC] of the Namibia Football Association wishes to inform Namibians and all football lovers that the NC regrets to withdraw the Brave Warriors from the African Nations Championship [CHAN], the competition for local based players of the Confederation of African Football [CAF] due to financial constraints.

“The NC was appointed by FIFA to, inter alia, take full control of the administration and implement governance policies, systems and processes regulating the financial affairs of the Namibia Football Association,” the statement reads.

“The precarious state of the NFA financials, the NC was left with no option, but to withdraw the Brave Warriors from CHAN and instead focus on the Brave Warriors’ international participation -AFCON 2023 and COSAFA 2022 competitions respectively,” it adds.

 Instead, the Brave Warriors will concentrate on hosting Burundi in the AFCON qualifiers on June 4.

The first legs in the opening round of Chan qualifiers will be played from July 22-24, with the second legs from July 29-31.

The second round will start with the first legs on August 26-28, and the return fixtures on September 2-4.


The three winners of the second-round ties will advance to the finals in Algeria.

Six Cosafa nations have appeared at the Chan finals since they were first played in 2009.