Black Stars given bye to final round of 2013 qualifiers

Ghana is given an automatic bye from the first two rounds of the qualifying for the 2013 African Nations Cup following Saturday's draw in Malabo.

Forty-six teams will be involved in the qualifying rounds as hosts, South Africa qualify directly to the finals.

The Black Stars and fifteen other nations that have qualified to the 2012 finals will join the qualifying campaign in the final round. The final round will be played in September and October 2012.

According to Caf, the 16 teams that qualified to the 2012 CAN and the 14 teams that qualified from Preliminary round 2 will meet in first and second leg formula to qualify 15 countries for the tournament.

From 2013, the final will be played in odd years to avoid clashing with the World Cup with the 2012 Nations Cup being the last tournament to be played in an even year.