Published Thu, May 20 10 10:08 PM
The start of the qualifiers for the 2012 African Nations Cup have been brought forward to the middle of the continent's first World Cup, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) confirmed on Thursday.
The late inclusion of Togo, who had their four-year ban on competing in the tournament lifted on Friday by CAF, means the first round of qualifying matches will now be played on July 1.
Togo have been slotted in to a group comprising Botswana, Chad, Malawi and favourites Tunisia. CAF said because there were now five teams in the group, more dates had to be found for the fixtures and that the qualifiers would be forced to start in July despite the World Cup taking place in South Africa.
The qualifiers for the 2012 event, to be co-hosted by Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, were originally due to start in September.
Togo withdrew from this year's tournament in Angola after two members of their delegation and the team bus driver died in an ambush in the province of Cabinda.
While the world expressed horror and sympathy, African football's governing body handed them a four-year ban, saying they had not properly withdrawn from the tournament and that the players had been forced home because of the pressure of their government.
Source: Web Search
0 comments:
Post a Comment