The men's tournament was due to feature three teams in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic and Cameroon at the Lycée Prince de Liège in the host nation's capital city.

However, Cameroon did not arrive at the tournament, meaning they forfeited both of their matches 20-0.

IWBF Africa secretary general Gerry Smith said that the Cameroonian team was denied entry to the Democratic Republic of Congo because of a visa issue.

"IWBF Africa, have not had an official communique from the Cameroon as to the full reason they failed to arrive," he told insidethegames.

"It would appear though that they failed to secure the required travel documentation (Visas) to enter the Democratic Republic of Congo. 

"The host nation, was contacted only a few hours prior to the schedule game time, that they had been denied entry at the border due to the fact they had not applied for the visa, and the hosts were not able to assist them under these circumstances.

"Tournament Rule and Regulations are clear with regards to team failing to arrive for games, and as Cameroon had failed to present themselves for two matches, this meant that they were eliminated from the competition unfortunately."

Democratic Republic of Congo started with a 51-26 victory over Central African Republic on Friday (April 28), before no action was held yesterday because of Cameroon's withdrawal.

The tournament proceeded straight to the final, which the Democratic Republic of Congo won 56-22 to seal a place at the Accra 2023 African Para Games.

They join Egypt, South Africa and Angola in sealing places at the men's wheelchair basketball tournament.

Democratic Republic of Congo also secured a place in the women's event because neither Cameroon nor Central African Republic entered a team from the central zone.

South Africa, Zambia and Algeria are also assured of places in the women's tournament at Accra 2023.

Further qualifiers are scheduled in Tanzania for the eastern region and Morocco for the northern region from Friday (May 5) to Sunday (May 7), with Ghana staging the western zone tournament from May 12 to 14.

The inaugural edition of the African Para Games is set to take place in Accra from September 3 to 12, despite the African Games being postponed due to financial problems in Ghana.