Ghana, this year's losing finalist, is grouped with Congo, Sudan and Swaziland in the qualifying round for the 2012 African Cup of Nations on Saturday.

The 44 teams were separated into 11 groups and will compete for 14 places.

The co-hosts Gabon and Equatorial Guinea have qualified automatically.

Togo was not part of the process after the Court of Arbitration for Sport denied its request to be provisionally included earlier this week. The country was banned from the next two tournaments after it left last month's edition following a gun attack on its team bus.

Togo's overall appeal against its ban is still to be heard by CAS. If successful, the draw would have to be restaged by the African Football Confederation.

Group 1: Mali, Cape Verde Islands, Zimbabwe, Liberia.
Group 2: Nigeria, Guinea, Ethiopia, Madagascar.
Group 3: Zambia, Mozambique, Libya, Comoros Islands.
Group 4: Algeria, Morocco, Tanzania, Central African Republic.
Group 5: Cameroon, Senegal, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mauritius.
Group 6: Burkina Faso, Gambia, Namibia, Mauritania.
Group 7: Egypt, South Africa, Sierra Leone, Niger.
Group 8: Ivory Coast, Benin, Rwanda, Burundi.
Group 9: Ghana, Congo, Sudan, Swaziland.
Group 10: Angola, Uganda, Kenya, Guinea Bissau.
Group 11: Tunisia, Malawi, Chad, Botswana.