The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has ruled out Rwanda's possibility of participating in the 2024 African Nations Championship (CHAN) as the draw took place in Nairobi, Kenya, on Wednesday evening, 15 January.

Rwanda had remained hopeful that a berth at the 2024 CHAN is possible if CECAFA would be awarded additional spots after eliminating South Sudan in the qualifiers on an away goal, following a 4-4 draw over two legs.

With the 19 teams drawn into four groups, CAF confirmed that two teams must still book their places at the finals, with Algeria, Gambia, Comoros, Malawi, Egypt, Gabon, and South Africa taking part in a qualification campaign to fill the slots in the draw for Qualifier 1 and Qualifier 2.

The African football body recently announced the postponement of the competition.

CHAN, which will be played in East Africa for the first time since Rwanda were the hosts in 2016, was initially slated for 1-28 February, but it was rescheduled to take place in August 2025.

The eighth edition will be held in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. This is the first time Rwanda have failed to qualify for CHAN for two consecutive editions.

The last time Rwanda qualified for the competition was in early 2021.\

CHAN 2024 Groups:

Group A: Kenya, Morocco, Angola, DR Congo, Zambia

Group B: Tanzania, Madagascar, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic

Group C: Uganda, Niger, Guinea, Qualifier 1, Qualifier 2

Group D: Senegal, Congo, Sudan, Nigeria