Opening fixtures Central East ZonePreliminary Round1.Rwanda v Burundi 2.Burundi v Rwanda First Round 3. Sudan v Win. 1-2 4. Win. 1-2 v Sudan5.Tanzania v Uganda 6.Uganda v TanzaniaSecond RoundWin. 3-4 v Win. 5-6Rwanda has been drawn to play traditional rivals Burundi in the first ever African Nations Championship that kicks off later this year. The continent’s football governing body, the Confederation of African Football (Caf) released the fixtures of each of the competing eight zones on Wednesday with winners destined to qualify for the final tournament which will be hosted in Ivory Coast from February 22-March 8 next year. Rwanda and Burundi were not given a bye to the first round as they will have to play preliminary rounds whose winner will face Sudan in the first round tie. This new championship was inaugurated on September 11 last year with an aim of providing home-grown talents more exposure on the international scene. Caf also introduced the tournament as part of its statutes, mission statements and goals and commitment to promoting and developing football in Africa. The qualifying phase will take place every even year and the final every odd year.Rwanda is in the Central East Zone and will play against Sudan if they overcome Burundi in the preliminary round. The matches will be played on a home and away basis. Meanwhile, Rwanda’s U-20 team which started off training last week will not take part in any of the qualifiers for the 16th edition of the African Youth Championship which will be hosted in Kigali from January 18-February 1, 2009. The continental body, CAF released fixtures for the qualifiers and is due to kick off from April 18-14 this year.Other ZonesSouthern Zone (South Africa, Mauritius, Botswana, Namibia & Angola), Zone West A (Senegal, Mali, Mauritania, and Guinea), Central Zone (Central Africa, Gabon, Congo, Chad, Cameroon & RD Congo) Zone West B (Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Niger, Benin) North Zone One (Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco & Egypt).Ends
