Bonnie Mugabe
14 March 2008
Kigali — Rwanda will face Burundi in the first qualifying fixture of the first ever African Nations Championship with the first leg in Kigali on March 30.
The two countries are in the East-Central zone along with Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya and Eritrea.
In the other East-Central zone fixtures, Kenya faces Tanzania in Nairobi while Eritrea hosts Uganda in Asmara in the first leg.
Both Rwanda and Burundi, who were not given bye to the first round, will have to battle in the preliminary round with the winner facing Sudan in the first round tie to be played on the weekend of May 2-4.
The winner between Kenya and Tanzania will face the winner from Eritrea-Uganda match.
Meanwhile, Amavubi Stars' technical committee is expected to name the team that will play in the championship today, according to assistant coach Jean Marie Ntagwabira.
"We are holding a technical meeting today (yesterday) during which we will name the squad that will play the opening tie against Burundi," Ntagwabira told Times Sport yesterday.
This new championship was inaugurated last September by Caf with the aim of providing home-grown talents more exposure on the international scene as well as promoting and developing football in Africa.
Elsewhere at the preliminary round, Libya plays Tunisia (Northern zone), Gambia against Mauritania (West A zone), Ghana hosts Niger while Togo faces Benin (West B zone).
In the Central zone, Central Africa Republic will play against Gabon as DR Congo faces Chad.
Malawi faces Mozambique in Blanytre while Swaziland hosts Zambia in the preliminary fixtures for the Southern zone. The winners of each group will qualify for the final tournament, which will be held in Ivory Coast from February 22 to March 8 next year. The qualifying phase will take place every even year and the final every odd year.
Central-East Zone
Preliminary Round
March 28-30
1st leg
Rwanda v Burundi
Kenya v Tanzania
Eritrea v Uganda
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