Afcon 2010 draw set for Nov 30

afcon-trophy

The draw of the 27th edition of Africa’s showpiece football event will see 16 teams being divided into four groups for the tourney that spans, January 10-31, 2010.

The three-week tourney, the first of its kind to be hosted by the Southern African country will take place in four cities; Luanda, Cabinda, Benguela and Lobango.

Currently, 20 countries are involved in the final round of qualifiers which will also decide on the continent’s representatives for the 2010 FIFA World Cup slated for South Africa next June.

Of the four teams in each of the five Groups, the top three will join hosts Angola for the continental fiesta whilst the group winners’ qualify for the Mundial.

Meanwhile, the continent’s soccer governing body has released the calendar for the tourney ahead of the draw.

From the calendar, Group “A” teams will based in the Angolan capital, Luanda; Group B – Cabinda, Group C – Benguela and Group D – Lubango.

The group phase matches will span January 10–21 to be followed by the knockout stages set for January 24-25.

The semi-finals have been fixed for Thursday, January 28 in Luanda and Benguela, with the third place match also slated for Benguela two days later.

Luanda will host the final on Sunday, January 31.

The tourney will have 32 matches overall.

The Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) has announced that tickets for the 2010 FIFA World Cup and Nations Cup qualifier against Rwanda at Konkola Stadium will go on sale on Thursday 4 June 2009.

The tickets will be sold across appointed selling agents/centres on the Copperbelt.

The centres include Konkola Blades Club House in Chililabombwe, Nchanga Rangers Club House in Chingola, Protea Hotel in Chingola, Edinburgh Hotel in Kitwe and Savoy Hotel in Kitwe.

Football House in Lusaka will offer for sale VIP tickets and a limited number of Grand Stand tickets.

The Communications Office advised all fans to ensure that they purchased tickets ahead of the game which will kick off at 14:00hours on Saturday 6 June.

“It is now almost one month since we announced the gate charges for the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier between Zambia and Rwanda. As indicated over the last few weeks, open wing tickets will cost K50, 000, with grand stand pegged at K150, 000.

The response from the greater Zambian football community has been overwhelming and from the inquiries we have been receiving, these tickets will go very fast.

Our appeal to all fans is not to wait until the last minute to purchase their tickets because they might find that they have run out. We therefore wish to appeal to all those planning to travel to Konkola to ensure that they get to their nearest selling point and buy their ticket,” Communications Manager Erick Mwanza said

“We need to turn out in our large numbers so that we can cheer our Chipolopolo to victory because three points against Rwanda will set us up well for the June 20 game against Algeria,” he added.