CAF picks Gabon to host 2017 AFCON

Gabon have been chosen to host the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations finals. The 2012 co-hosts won a vote by the Confederation of African Football's executive committee in Cairo on Wednesday ahead of Algeria and Ghana. 

It will be the second time as hosts for the country, which is located on the west coast of Africa, having previously shared duties with Equatorial Guinea.

Original hosts Libya, where a civil war has halted football, withdrew last year from staging the tournament. 

Gabon will use four venues for the 16-team tournament, which will be played in January and February. They will be in Libreville and Franceville, which were used in 2012, plus Port Gentil and Oyem where the stadiums will be ready in 14 months, Gabon Football Federation officials said. 

Also on Wednesday, Caf conducted the draw for the qualifiers, which included Morocco and Tunisia. 

Morocco had been banned from taking part in the next two editions of the tournament after they did not host the 2015 event but were reinstated after winning their appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

 

Tunisia avoided a ban after apologising to Caf for accusing the governing body of bias. 

Full draw for 2017 Afcon qualifiers: 

 

Group A: Tunisia, Togo, Liberia, Djibouti 

Group B: Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, Central African Republic, Madagascar

 

Group C: Mali, Equatorial Guinea, Benin, South Sudan

 

Group D: Burkina Faso, Uganda, Botswana, Comoros

 

Group E: Zambia, Congo, Kenya, Guinea Bissau

 

Group F: Cape Verde, Morocco, Libya, Sao Tome

 

Group G: Nigeria, Egypt, Tanzania, Chad

 

Group H: Ghana, Mozambique, Rwanda, Mauritius

 

Group I: Ivory Coast, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Gabon

 

Group J: Algeria, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Seychelles

 

Group K: Senegal, Niger, Namibia, Burundi

 

Group L: Guinea, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Swaziland

 

Group M: Cameroon, South Africa, Gambia, Mauritania

...BBCSport