The Gambia Football Association are yet to get an explanation from the confederation of African Football (CAF), on why The Gambia were excluded from the qualifying draws for next year’s inaugural edition of the African Nations Cup Championship.

The Scorpions have been omitted from the qualifying draws for the first-ever continental tournament which is similar to the African Nations Cup, but only that it is strictly to local-based players with the ultimate aim of developing the local game in the continent.

The Scorpions omission has left the Gambia Football Association in a complete daze. The GFA Secretary General Jammeh Bojang has told Observer Sports that they have written to CAF for an explanation but added that they are yet to hear from  the continental football’s governing body.

“We wrote to CAF for an explanation on exclusion shortly after the release of the fixtures, but we are yet hear from them. We do not why we’re omitted and we want know it from CAF,” he told Observer Sports.

The Gambia are not the only affected nation. Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia and even Kenya, have all faulted CAF for their exclusion from the qualifying draws.

However, the French-speaking west African nations like Senegal, Mali and Guinea have been included, and this left Secretary General Bojang much convinced that the new tournament may be an all francophone affairs.

“All the affected nations from the west Africa zone are anglophobe nations and I don’t know why. We don’t owe CAF anything and we were not informed of any registration process. May be the competition is for only francophone nations” Secretary General Bojang rued.

The qualifying round of the tournament will feature thirty teams, from which eight, including the host side, will finally qualify to play in the finals of the competition scheduled between January and February next year.