Namibia ‘ll Play In Nations Cup – Kaanjuka

Coach Bernard Kaanjuka is convinced Namibia will be heading to the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations finals once the Court of Arbitration for Sport hear their appeal against Burkina Faso.

The Brave Warriors are moving to have the Burkinabe ejected from the continental showpiece due to the fact they fielded an ineligible player, Ivory Coast-born Herve Zengue, during the qualifiers last year.

Zengue is married to a Burkina Faso woman, but that alone does not qualify the full-back for dual nationality, as stated in FIFA’s regulations regarding playing for another country.

Namibia had seen their appeal to the Confederation of African Football rejected due to a technicality, but the national side have now approach CAS in Switzerland, who will hear the case today.

CAF have since refused to comment on the situation, but Namibia coach Kaanjuka feels his side should be awarded the points they lost in the two qualifying matches against Burkina Faso in which Zengue participated.

“What happened at CAF was not a true reflection of the case and if CAS look into the details they will allow Namibia to participate at the Cup of Nations,” he said.

In fact, the coach remains defiantly confident in the team’s chances of successfully appealing the case and has kept the squad camped out in Windhoek since last year and continues to prepare his troops for the biennial African spectacular.