Equatorial Guinea had been banned from the competition on October 18 after they fielded an ineligible player in qualifying.

It was claimed that the player in question, Annette Jacky Messomo, was of Cameroonian nationality.

Kenya were given the vacant place at the tournament, but the Confederation of African Football (CAF) then overturned Equatorial Guinea's punishment on November 7, meaning that Kenya could no longer compete.

The Kenyan Football Federation (FKF) filed an appeal to CAS in an attempt to regain their place at the competition but it has been rejected by the Lausanne-court. 

In a statement, the FKF said that although they did "fully understand and respect" the decision, they would continue to appeal against CAF.

"Our appeal against CAF is still open, and we will continue to fight for justice to be done in some way, to repair the harm that has been caused to our Starlets and the people of our nation," the statement reads.

"We will continue to fight at CAS in order to demonstrate that we as a Federation and we as a people will not sit back and simply accept routine and blatant regulatory breaches that impact the progression of our teams, national or otherwise."

The tournament begins in Ghana tomorrow, with eight teams participating. 

The hosts meet Algeria in the opening game at the Accra Sports Stadium in the Ghanaian capital city, followed by the second game of Group A, Mali against Cameroon. 

Nigeria play South Africa in the first game of Group B in Cape Coast, before Zambia take on Equatorial Guinea.

The tournament's top three teams will book their place at the 2019 World Cup in France. 

Defending champions and eight-time winners Nigeria will again be favourites to prevail.