AS Amavubi Stars prepare for their opening Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup game against Ivory Coast tomorrow, their minds will also be fixed on events being held in Khartoum, Sudan.

Sellas Tetteh’s side will march into Sunday’s clash aware of their opponents in next year’s Africa Nations Championship (CHAN) whose draws are set for this afternoon in Khartoum.

Sixteen teams that qualified for the tournament will be divided into groups of four for the round robin, with the top two in each pool advancing to the knockout phase.

Hosts Sudan qualified automatically while 15 teams emerged from the qualifying series. Sudan together with DRC, winner of the first edition held in Ivory Coast (2009), Ghana, beaten finalists, and Senegal who finished fourth will all be seeded.

Rwanda qualified for the finals after eliminating Tanzania after a 1-0 aggregate win in the second round. The competition, which is reserved for locally players, runs from February 4-25.

The sixteen qualifiers:

Host country: Sudan
North Zone: Algeria, Tunisia
West Zone A: Mali, Senegal
West Zone B: Ivory Coast, Ghana, Niger
Central Zone: Cameroon, Gabon, DRC (Holders)
Central-East Zone: Uganda, Rwanda
South Zone: South Africa, Angola, Zimbabwe

Ends