Abdur Rahman Alfa Shaban
Africa’s flagship football tournament the African Cup of Nations takes place in Gabon next January. A key process in the lead up to the tournament is the group draw which takes place today in Gabon.
The specific location is at the Stade de l’Amitie in the capital, Libreville, where teams will know who they will face when the tournament finally kicks off.
As part of our build up to the final draw which takes place at 17:30 GMT, we give a background to today’s event. We look at the pots that will be available. We take a tour of the various venues that Gabon has put together. We also take you down memory lane to look at past winners of the tournament.
GROUP A – Libreville
- Gabon
- Burkina Faso
- Cameroon
- Guinea Bissau
GROUP B – Franceville
- Algeria
- Tunisia
- Senegal
- Zimbabwe
GROUP C – Oyem
- Ivory Coast
- DR Congo
- Morocco
- Togo
GROUP D: Port Gentil
- Ghana
- Mali
- Egypt
- Uganda
African legends who helped with the draw
The first round of the draw was by Senegalese footballer Khalilou Fadiga, helped at some point by the Prime Minister of Gabon.
Francois Amegasse, a Gabonese footballer who appeared with the national football team at the 1994, 1996 and 2000 African Cup of Nations helped with stage two of the draw.
Karim Abdul Razak Tanko, a Ghanaian football coach and former midfielder is the last person to help with the final draw. He played for several clubs in the 1970s and 1980s, notably the local club Kumasi Asante Kotoko.
Popularly called the “Golden Boy”, Razak also played for the Ghana national team, helping it win the 1978 African Cup of Nations. He was named African Footballer of the Year later that year.
Event Kicks off – Follow Updates below
17:30 GMT: Event starts with anthem of Gabon anthem being sung. President Ali Bongo Ondimba in attendance with Prime Minister
Top brass of CAF led by President Issa Hayatou, representatives of football associations and also the media fully represented.
The draw for the Africa Cup of Nations will be held in Gabon today at 5:30 UTC. Stay tuned for the big event #AFCON2017 pic.twitter.com/qG8yBJk59i
— #TotalEnergiesAFCONU20 (@CAF_Online) October 19, 2016
