Ghana will play Niger at home in the first leg fixture of the preliminary round qualifiers of the new African Nations Championship later this month.

The Black Stars drawn in Zone West B play Niger on March 30 with the return fixture in Niamey in two weeks time.

Ghana entered the competition following an amendment made to the fixtures by the Confederation of African Football.

CAF, at its Executive Committee meeting decided to hand Ghana and nine other African nations places in the qualifying series of the new tournament designed for players who play in the various domestic leagues in Africa.

The nine other national associations to be readmitted into the qualifiers for the CHAN are: Gambia from Zone West A, Togo from Zone West B, Kenya and Eritrea from the Central East Zone, and from the Southern Zone: Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Ghana’s absence from the draw of entries for the tournament, released by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), caused unease, particularly amongst local clubs, who said that, not taking part in the 2009 championships in Ivory Coast will deny their players vital exposure on the international scene.

However, the Ghana Football Association sought an explanation from CAF on the omission of Ghana for the first Africa Nations Championships.

The Africa Nations Championships is a new tournament designed by CAF for only home-based players of its member countries and it will come off in Ivory Coast from the 22nd of February till the 8th of March 2009.