The CAF banned the former African Footballer of the Year after he had been beaten up and handcuffed by Malian police, who accused him of dropping 'magic' on the pitch ahead of the semifinal of the tournament against the home nation in Bamako on February 7.

African soccer's governing body found that Nkono, now the goalkeeper coach for Cameroon, had been the cause of the fracas and banned him from all their activities for a year - a decision which drew howls of derision.

But on Tuesday they said they had accepted new evidence from the Cameroonian Football Federation and had decided to lift the ban.

Nkono was banned despite receiving a personal apology from Mali's president Alpha Oumar Konare after the incident.

Nkono had walked out with other team members onto the field some 90 minutes before the start of the semifinal, which Cameroon went on to win 3-0.

Standing on the side of the pitch, in conversation with other team members, he was suddenly set upon by 10 policemen and, after a brief argument, a punch-up ensued.

The former World Cup goalkeeper was thrown to the ground and then handcuffed in full view of the near 50,000 spectators.

KICKING AND SCREAMING

He was dragged kicking and screaming off the pitch by the police, with his tracksuit trousers pulled down around his knees to restrict his movement.

The police handcuffed him and Nkono later walked over to the media area to furiously display his shackled wrists to the international press. The next day he wore bandages on both wrists.

After Nkono was released and returned sobbing to the team's dressing room, Cameroon coach Winfried Schafer refused to go ahead with the game and it took several minutes of negotiation with CAF officials before the match went ahead.

The ban imposed on Nkono, who played for Espanyol in Spain and was Cameroon's goalkeeper at the World Cup finals in 1982 and 1990, was a big surprise to those who had witnessed the incident and the CAF was heavily criticised for it.

Nkono was not allowed to sit on the Cameroon bench when they won the final three days later in a dramatic penalty shootout against Senegal.