2010 African Nations’ Championships Playoffs Kick Off This Weekend

APA - Algiers (Algeria) The elimination round of the second African Championship of Nations Cup (CHAN), a competition reserved for local players whose finals will be held in Sudan in early 2011, will begin this weekend.

The fifteen teams that qualify will join the host country, Sudan. Launched in 2009 in Cote d’Ivoire with eight teams, the finals of the competition have changed format with sixteen teams.

The qualifiers will be played in different geographical zones.

In the Northern Zone, four countries are on the starting line (Algeria, Libya, Tunisia and Morocco) for two qualifying tickets.

Algeria versus Libya and Tunisia versus Morocco are the two scheduled matches. A single round is sufficient to designate two zone representatives for the CHAN.

Four teams are competing in the Western Zone A for two places. With the withdrawal of Mauritania, the qualified teams will be known in late March after two matches : Guinea versus Mali, and Senegal versus Sierra Leone.

Six teams are involved in the Western Zone B for three tickets. Again, one round will suffice to decide between the teams : Togo versus Cote d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso versus Ghana and Niger versus Nigeria.

In the Central Zone, four candidates are vying for three seats. Thus, the winners of the Congo versus Cameroon and Gabon versus DR Congo matches will qualify. The two losers of both matches will meet for a two-leg play off to complete the quota of the area.

The Central -Eastern Zone will qualify three teams including hosts Sudan.

Eight teams are lined up including Somalia that defeated Djibouti (1.0) in the preliminary round played in November 2009.

Two matches are scheduled in the first round : Burundi versus Uganda and Somalia versus Tanzania. Eritrea and Ethiopia are already qualified for the second round following the respective withdrawals of Rwanda and Kenya.

A second round between the various winners will take place in late May or early June to indentify the two teams to accompany Sudan to CHAN 2011.

Finally, the Southern Zone, which has the biggest number of competitors (11 squads), three teams will qualify, (with three already qualified).

Zambia is exempted from the first round, and the other ten teams will compete in duels after which the winners will compete in a second qualifying round in late May-early June.