KAMPALA, May 23 (Xinhua) -- Rwanda and Sudan have pulled out of the Zone 5 volleyball qualifier for the 2018 Africa Youth Games scheduled to take place here.

Hadija Namanda, the chairperson of the Uganda Volleyball Federation, told Xinhua on Wednesday that she received communication from the two countries that their teams cannot travel because of financial challenges.

Namanda said the Egyptian and Kenyan teams have already arrived ahead of the qualifiers that will run on May 24-27.

The qualifier was initially meant to attract five nations with the winners in the boys and girls category qualifying to represent Zone 5 at the third African Youth Games to take place in Algeria.

Namanda also made it clear that the qualifiers are only meant for players born on or after January 1, 2001 for boys and January 1, 2002 for girls.

The third Africa Youth Games, to be held in Algiers, Algeria from July 17-27, shall include a total of eight teams to be determined through the zonal qualifiers. Tunisia boys and girls have already qualified from zone 1, while Cameroon boys and girls will represent zone 4.

Morocco hosted the first Africa Youth Games in 2010, while the second edition was hosted in Botswana in 2014.