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Soccer-Rwanda disqualified from Nations Cup qualifiers

CAPE TOWN, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Rwanda have been thrown out of the qualifiers for the 2015 African Nations Cup in Morocco after fielding a player plying his trade under two identities, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) said on Sunday. Rwanda had won their place in qualifying Group A along with champions Nigeria, South Africa and Sudan but will be replaced by Congo, the side they defeated in the last round of the preliminaries. Congo appealed to CAF over Rwanda's use of forward Dady Birori, who plays for AS Vita Club in the Democratic Republic of Congo with a passport from the African country under the name of Etekiama Agiti Tady and with a different age. "Following investigations by CAF and on the basis of documents provided by the federations of Rwanda, Congo and DR Congo, and hearing the player's testimony on 11 August 2014 at CAF headquarters in Cairo, CAF established that the two identities only referred to a single person," CAF said in a press release on Sunday. "While the Rwandan Football Federation (FERWAFA) maintained that to their knowledge the player Dady Birori had one identity, investigations revealed that he was summoned as Etekiama Agiti Tady by FERWAFA to join the national team of Rwanda." CAF have suspended the player from all club and national team matches "until further notice", but have not indicated they will take any further action against the Rwandan football authorities. FERWAFA will have the opportunity to appeal the decision. (Reporting By Nick Said; Editing by Michael Hann)