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African champions Zambia and the Ivory Coast are among countries lined up for invitation to the 2012 CECAFA Senior Challenge Cup.
Confirmation of this will, however, come up after final matches of the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers from October 12 to 14.
The two nations are in line to qualify for the AFCON finals in South Africa in January and whether or not they would still be keen to take part in the Challenge Cup will only be clear after the qualifiers.
Zambia take a 1-0 lead to the deciding match against Uganda in Kampala and Ivory Coast have a 4-2 advantage before their return fixture away in Senegal.
Succesful
As regular CECAFA guests, Zambia have recently won the Challenge Cup -- beating Sudan in the 2006 final in Ethiopia -- and last took part in the 2009 edition held in Kenya.
The Ivorians were the losing finalists against Tanzania Mainland in Dar es Salaam in 2010.
Nicholas Musonye, the secretary general of the Council of East and Central African Football Associations said that Zimbabwe, DR Congo and Cameroon had also requested to participate in the 12-member nation competition which traditionally welcomes guests.
- We shall definitely have one or two guest teams, Musonye told IPP media.
- But this will be known after the AFCON qualifiers. Some qualified teams might opt to come, while others still having African Nations Championship (Chan) matches and 2014 FIFA World Cup fixtures coming up early next year may find taking part in the Challenge Cup perfect training ground.
