CAF Outlines Qualification Criteria For 2013 Africa Cup Of Nations

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has outlined the qualification criteria for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations.

A CAF statement culled by GNA Sports said there will be a seeding system after the second round of matches at the end of June.

It said the qualified 14-teams from the second round will be joined by the 16 teams that participated at the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations to play the third round on a direct knockout system in home and away matches to determine the 15 qualified teams to join hosts South Africa for the final tournament.

According to CAF, the 30-teams will be divided into two pots (Pot 1 and Pot 2) comprising of 15 teams each. There will be a drawing of lots in July, taking into considering the ranking of the teams at the last three editions of the Africa Cup of Nations to determine the teams to be placed in two Pots.

From the ranking, the 2012 edition goes with a co-efficient of three points, two points for the 2010 edition and one point for the 2008 edition.

For the 16 finalists of the 2012 edition, the winner gets seven points, five points for the finalist, three points for the semi finalists, two points for quarter finalists and one point for group phase participants.

From the seedings, reigning Africa champions Zambia is the highest seeded team with 26-points, Ghana (22-points), Cote d’Ivoire (22-points), Egypt (21-points), Mali (12-points), Tunisia (10-points), Cameroon (nine points), Angola (nine points), Nigeria (eight points), Gabon (eight points), Algeria (six points) and Equatorial Guinea (six points).

The rest are Guinea (five points), Burkina Faso (five points), Senegal (four points), Morocco (four points), Benin (three points), Libya (three points), Niger (three points), Botswana (three points), Malawi (two points), Togo (two points), Mozambique (two points), Namibia (one point) and South Africa (one point).

According to CAF, the top-ranked 15 countries will be in Pot 1 and rest in Pot 2.

The final tournament will be held from 19 January to 10 February, 2013.

GNA