CHAN: Cranes to face South Sudan

Uganda Cranes will face South Sudan in the 2018 Championship of African Nations (CHAN) qualifiers in July.

South Sudan booked the fixture after ejecting Somalia 4-1 on aggregate in the preliminary qualifiers following the return leg at Juba Stadium on Sunday.

Africa's newest country bordering Uganda to the north will host the first leg on July 14 before travelling to Kampala for the return leg a week later.

Cranes coach Milutin Sredejovic has been widening the pool of players from which he hopes to form the squad primarily from Uganda Premier League, FUFA Big League and the University Football League.

The competition meant for home based players only.

The winner of the tie will face either Tanzania or Rwanda to seal a spot in the 2018 tournament that will be hosted by Kenya.

Other than the 2009 edition in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) which Uganda missed, the Cranes have featured in the other biannual tournaments in Sudan, South Africa (2014) and Rwanda (2016) without going beyond the group stage.

Reigning champions DRC won the championship in 2009 and 2016 while Tunisia and Libya won in 2011 and 2014 respectively.