Kenya and Zimbabwe will not take part in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, whose qualifying campaign starts in early June as announced by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).

The two countries have been banned from football by world governing body Fifa because of governmental interference in the running of the game.=

The East African nation had needed their ban to have been lifted two weeks before their first Nations Cup qualifier if they were to take part in the 2023 campaign.
As a consequence of having failed to have their suspensions by FIFA set aside, CAF has confirmed that both Kenya and Zimbabwe will not participate in the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations Cote d’Ivoire 2023 qualifiers.

The qualifiers will kick-off on the first day of June 2022.

CAF had included them in the official draw earlier in April 2022 on condition that the suspension must be lifted two weeks before their first match day.

Kenya and Zimbabwe, suspended for political interference, have not yet met the criteria required by the FIFA Congress as a prerequisite for lifting their suspension. As a result:

Because of the suspension, the following will apply: 

-       The two associations; Football Kenya Federation (FKF) and the Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA)will be considered losers and eliminated from the competition.

-       Groups C and K will be composed only of three teams and the order of the matches will be maintained in accordance with the match schedule that has been communicated to the teams after the draw.

-       The first and runner-up teams of those groups will qualify to the final tournament.