By James Bakama and Julius Senyimba
UGANDA could be grouped with African champions Nigeria, Ivory Coast or Ghana in the next Orange Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
But while that could be something to worry about in the race to the 2015 tournament, Ugandans should also have a sense of relief for not being in the path of the likes of Egypt, Senegal and Cameroon.
CAF seedings released on Wednesday, placed Uganda in different pots with the Super Eagles, The Elephants and Black Stars meaning the Cranes could be grouped with these heavyweights in the draw to determine groups.
The groups will be known on March 10 at the CAF draw that will be held together with the continental body’s general assembly in Morocco.
Uganda is in pot two that also has Egypt, Libya, Algeria, Senegal, Cameroon, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Gabon, Uganda, Congo and Central African Republic.
While the Cranes can’t meet teams in their pot, they can be drawn in the same group with any of the teams in three other pots.
Nigeria, 2012 champions Zambia, Ivory Coast and Ghana are in Group One together with 2013 runners up Burkina Faso, Tunisia D. R. Congo, Cape Verde, South Africa, and Mali.
Group three has Ethiopia, Benin, Angola, Niger, Zimbabwe, Equatorial, Mozambique, Malawi, Burundi, Liberia and Sudan. The fourth group will be determined after the preliminary round.
The qualification procedure will revert to its initial format after it was altered for the 2013 edition following the change of the tournament’s calendar to odd- numbered years.
Because of limited time CAF employed substituted the group format with play-offs 2013 tournament.
