Confederation of African Football (Caf) has announced the dates of the 2016 African Nations Championship (Chan) that will be hosted in Rwanda from January 16-February 7. Rwanda Football Federation (Ferwafa) Chief Executive Officer Olivier Mulindahabi told Times Sport that, “We welcome this news and we are excited that we shall be hosting Chan next year. Preparations are going on according to plan. Caf will send a delegation to evaluate the preparations at a date they will communicate soon.” Mulindahabi also said that the official website will be launched on March 15 as well as the advertising will go up on the same day across several platforms like billboards and social media. Ferwafa will send a delegation to South Africa, hosts of the 2014 edition to learn from their experience. Morocco is expected to send a draft contract that will provide a working frame with Ferwafa, an agreement that will help Rwanda organize a remarkable tournament. The North Africans were set to host the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations until they pulled out following the Ebola outbreak. The biennial event will attract 16 teams from Africa and games will played at four stadiums across the country including the Umuganda stadium in Rubavu, Huye stadium and the Amahoro stadium and Kigali regional stadium in Kigali. This will be the biggest football tournament hosted by Rwanda which also hosted the 2009 African Youth Championships for U-20 players as well as the 2011 Africa U-17 championships, eventually qualifying the Junior Wasps to the 2011 Fifa U-17 World Cup in Mexico.
