The Roon Ba

[jonny]

The inaugural Champions of the African Nations Championship, DR Congo will have to beat Gabon over two legs to make it to the 2011 edition.

Also known as CHAN, this tournament is specifically for players competing in their country's domestic league.

The 2011 CHAN will take place in Sudan and will double in size from eight to 16 teams.

Countries hoping to be in Sudan in two years' time will qualify from six zones.

The preliminary rounds will take place in November and December and feature the likes of Sierra Leone, Mauritania and Djibouti.

The main qualifying round will take place in March 2010, with some countries just needing to win just one two-legged tie to secure their place in Sudan.

Sudan qualify automatically as hosts of the tournament.



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The 2011 African Nations Championship qualifying draw

North Zone

First Round

Algeria* v Libya

Tunisia* v Morocco

First leg: March 12-14/Second leg: March 26-28

Winners qualify for finals

West Zone A

Preliminary round

Mauritania v Sierra Leone

First leg: Nov 27-29/ Second leg: Dec 11-13

First round

Guinea* v Mali

Senegal* v Mauritania or Sierra Leone

First leg: March 12-14/ Second leg: March 26-28

Winners qualify

West Zone B

First round

Togo v Ivory Coast*

Burkina Faso v Ghana*

Niger v Nigeria*

First leg: March 12-14/ Second leg: March 26-28

Winners qualify

Central Zone

Preliminary round

Congo v Equatorial Guinea

First leg: Nov 27-29/ Second leg: Dec 11-13

First round

Congo or Equatorial Guinea v Cameroon*

Gabon v Democratic Republic of Congo (holders)*

First leg: March 12-14/ Second leg: March 26-28

Second round

Losers Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon v losers Gabon and DR Congo

First leg: May 21-23/ Second leg: June 4-6

First and second round winners qualify

Central Zone East

Preliminary round

Djibouti v Somalia

First leg: Nov 27-29/ Second leg: Dec 11-13

First round

Burundi v Uganda*

Eritrea v Rwanda*

Ethiopia v Kenya*

Djibouti or Somalia v Tanzania*

First leg: March 12-14/ Second leg: March 26-28

Second round

Burundi or Uganda v Ethiopia or Kenya

Djibouti, Somalia or Tanzania v Eritrea or Rwanda

First leg: May 21-23, second: June 4-6

Winners qualify

South Zone

First round

Botswana v South Africa*

Seychelles v Namibia*

Madagascar v Angola*

Swaziland v Zimbabwe*

Malawi v Mozambique*

First leg: March 12-14/ Second leg: March 26-28

Second round

Seychelles or Namibia v Swaziland or Zimbabwe

Botswana or South Africa v Zambia

Madagascar or Angola v Malawi or Mozambique

First leg: May 21-23/ Second leg: June 4-6

Winners qualify

*denotes seeded team

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/africa/8253595.stm

[jonny]

Sierra Leone have been given a bye into the first round proper of qualifying for the African Nations Championship.

The Leone Stars had been due to face Mauritania in the preliminary round of qualifying for the competition.

But the Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA) received a letter from the Confederation of African Football earlier this week pulling out of the game.

The match had been scheduled for the end of November.

Sierra Leone will now go into the first round of West African qualifying, where they will play Senegal over two legs in March.

Preliminary rounds are played on a regional basis from the end of 2009 and throughout 2010 and the tournament itself takes place in Sudan in early 2011.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/africa/8340509.stm