Amavubi face hectic 2015 Afcon schedule

Amavubi Stars’ head coach Eric Nshimiyimana will have to juggle a tight preparatory format that will enable Rwanda qualify for the 2015 Nations Cup final. Amavubi will play a gruelling six international matches in just three months. The Confederation of African Football [CAF] confirmed over the weekend that qualifiers for the 2015 African Cup of Nations will take place over only three months next year. It means 144 fixtures, involving a total of 48 teams in 12 groups of four, will have to be played in between September and November. The schedule has been designed to fit in the world governing body’s (Fifa) international match calendar. No wonder Rwanda Football Federation vice president Raoul Gisanura believes the qualifying format is very hectic. “Playing six international matches in three months is not easy. But since we have nothing to do about it, we have to adjust accordingly. We will work with our stakeholders, the government to ensure that we get the required resources needed to enable the team play these qualifiers,” he told Times Sport on Monday. “From June, the team will play around eleven international matches including the 2014 World Cup, CHAN and Afcon qualifiers,” added Gisanura. It is the first time that qualifying has had to be arranged around the World Cup since the Nations Cup was switched from even to odd years. And with difficult transport links between some African nations, the tight fixture’s schedule could cause some problems - particularly on routes between the east and west of the continent. A weekend match will be followed by a midweek game in three periods set aside by Fifa, with clubs obligated to release their players for international duty for the duration. The dates are September 1-9, October 6-14 and November 10-18. At the end of the group phase, the winners of each group and the best three runners up will advance to the final phase of qualification for the tournament, which will be hosted by Morocco from January 17 to February 7 2015. Caf also announced that the Nations Cup qualification preliminary round, featuring up to 12 of the lowest ranked African sides in a two-legged play-offs, will take place in July and August. During CAF’s seeding exercise for the 2015 Nations Cup draw early this year, Rwanda was not seeded because of its poor rankings.

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Amavubi face hectic 2015 Afcon schedule