By Alex Osei-Boateng
ACCRA, Dec. 3 (Xinhua) -- Ghana have secured qualification to the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations(AFCON) following the decision of the Confederation of African Football(CAF) in Accra on Friday to disqualify Sierra Leone as a result of the ban placed on the West African nation by FIFA due to political interference.
"Sierra Leone is disqualified from the qualifiers and all its matches are annulled," CAF said in a release on Monday.
Following the decision, Kenya tops the group with seven points followed by Ghana who has six points from three games.
Both the Harambee Stars of Kenya and Ghana's Black Stars qualify for the 16-nation competition.
Ethiopia are placed third with a paltry one point from four games.
The CAF in October called off Ghana's double-header AFCON qualifiers against Sierra Leone after its failure to meet FIFA's deadline to reinstate the Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA) president Isha Johansen and general secretary Christopher Kamara.
The SLFA was consequently banned by FIFA for government interference.
The 2019 AFCON, with its new 24-team format, will be held from June 15 to July 13 at a venue yet to be announced by CAF after it stripped Cameroon of the hosting rights for failing to meet a number of compliance conditions.
This decision, without appeal, will mean that CAF will now initiate an open and urgent call for new host country bids to ensure AFCON 2019 takes place next summer.
