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Sikhumbuzo Moyo, Senior Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWE will most certainly meet the giants of African football when the draw for the 2017 Total African Cup of Nations finals is conducted in Libreville, Gabon, next month.

Holders Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, World Cup quarter-finalists Algeria and hosts Gabon will all be seeded and separated in the four-group Afcon finals.

According to the seedings approved by the organising committee at their meeting in Cairo, Egypt, on Monday, the four will be in Pot One as determined by the performance of all the 16 qualified teams in the last three Afcon finals and qualifying matches as well as the last World Cup finals and qualifying matches.

The Warriors, while having participated in the qualifying stages of all the recognised versions, never made it to the finals and are in Pot Four with other minnows like Uganda,  Guinea Bissau and Togo.

“The formula adopted for each of the Afcon final tournament was eight points for the winner, six points for the losing finalist, four for semi-finalists, three for quarter-finalists, two for third in the group and a single point for a fourth place finish,” reads a Caf statement.

Importance was given to recent Afcon finals in the order of co-efficient three to one from 2012 to the last finals.

The World Cup finals were also given their weights in terms of co-efficients and based on the seeding formulae Pot Two will have Tunisia, Mali, Burkina Faso and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Pot Three was allocated to Cameroon, Senegal, Egypt and Morocco.

“The first team drawn out in Pot Four will go to A4, B4 for the second, C4 for the third and D4 for the fourth drawn side,” says Caf.

Meanwhile, uncertainty still surrounds the staging of the Total Afcon finals in Gabon due to the unstable political situation in the country following a recent disputed presidential election.

“The issue will most certainly be brought up at the Caf annual general meeting in Cairo, Egypt, on Thursday (today) as it is of most importance,” said a source.

Draw Format

Pot 1: Gabon, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Algeria.

Pot 2: Tunisia, Mali, Burkina Faso, DR Congo.

Pot 3: Cameroon, Senegal, Morocco, Egypt.

Pot 4: Togo, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Guinea Bissau.