The 2012 African Nations Cup will kick off on January 21, the Confederation of African Football has announced.
According to Caf, the competition to be jointly staged in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea will run for 23 days with the finals set for February 12.
Caf says four cities Bata, Malabo, Libreville and Franceville will host the competition.
The port city of Bata in Equatorial Guinea will host the opening game for the 16-nation competition while Libreville, the Gabonese capital, stages the final.
Malabo, the capital of Equatorial Guinea will be the venue for the third-place game.
The October 28 draw in Malabo will reveal where all the team will be based.
The 16 qualified teams will be drawn into four groups of four with matches in groups A and B taking place in Bata and Malabo in Equatorial Guinea while C and D groups will play in Libreville and Franceville.
Teams will be placed into different groups based on their results of the last three previous editions of the competition - Egypt 2006, Ghana 2008 and Angola 2010.
“Points obtained in the 2010 edition will have a co-efficient of three, those of 2008 co-efficient of two and those of the 2006 event will have a co-efficient of six.
“The winner of each edition scores seven points, five points for the finalist, three points for semi-finalists, two points for quarter-finalists and one point for teams eliminated in the first round,” a Caf statement said.
