PERHAPS, as a result of the whittled power of Nigerian football in the continent, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) for the first time since the Nations Cup adopted a sixteen team format, yesterday did not seed the Super Eagles ahead of the draws for the 2013 edition of the competition.
The draws will be held in Durban, South Africa on October 24.
Among the four top seeds are Cote d’Ivoire, seeded despite the abandonment of its second-leg tie with Senegal and no news of an official result from CAF, host, South Africa, Ghana and defending champion, Zambia.
Cote d’Ivoire was 6-2 up on aggregate when Saturday’s game in Dakar was called off because of crowd violence.
Nigeria is in the second pot, which contains teams regarded as second powers in the competition, while Cape Verde, who qualified for the first time in its history by pulling off a shock 3-2 aggregate victory over four-time champions Cameroon, is in the fourth pot, meant for the lowest ranked teams.
Also among the lowest-ranked teams is 1962 champion, Ethiopia, which has qualified for the first time since 1982.
The tournament takes place in South Africa between January 19 and February 10, 2013.
Since teams in the same pot cannot be drawn against each other it means Nigeria could be grouped together with Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Zambia or South Africa.
The seeds:
Pot one: South Africa, Zambia, Ghana, Ivory Coast.
Pot two: Mali, Tunisia, Angola, Nigeria.
Pot three: Algeria, Burkina Faso, Morocco, Niger.
Pot four: Togo, Cape Verde, DR Congo, Ethiopia.
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