2015 Afcon qualifiers to be played over 3 months

Qualifying for the 2015 African Cup of Nations will take place over only three months next year, the Confederation of African Football has announced.

It means 144 fixtures, involving a total of 48 teams in 12 groups of four, will have to be squeezed in between September and November.

The schedule has been designed to fit in with world governing body Fifa’s international match calendar.

There are no dates in 2014 before the World Cup finals take place in Brazil.

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 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 1-9 September, 6-14 October and 10-18 November.

Namibia Football Association president John Muinjo believes the schedule is too demanding.

He told BBC Sport: “Playing six international games in three months is hard on the health of the players.”

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 17 January to 7 February 2015.—BBC