Libya have withdrawn from the 2024 African Nations Championship, pulling out of the final tournament that Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda are scheduled to host.

The withdrawal was reported on November 22, 2024, and subsequent accounts attributed the decision to scheduling conflicts and concerns about disruption to the country’s domestic league calendar.

Libya had qualified automatically for the finals alongside Morocco and Tunisia after changes to the Northern African zone’s qualification arrangements. Egypt and Algeria had withdrawn earlier, leaving the three countries to qualify directly.

The African Nations Championship is reserved for players competing in their domestic leagues, a rule that ties squad selection closely to the domestic calendar. Libya won the 2014 edition of the competition.

Editorial Note

An editorial note accompanying the original report corrected an earlier version that had incorrectly identified the Democratic Republic of the Congo as one of the first countries to withdraw and had described Libya’s departure as a withdrawal from the qualifiers.

The report was amended to distinguish the earlier withdrawals from Libya’s withdrawal from the final tournament.