The draw for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations finals will be conducted early next year, says the Confederation of African Football (CAF). CAF made the announcement last week before the start of the general assembly in Marrakech, Morocco, that the draw for the 2015 edition will be conducted in January or February. “The draw for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations will take place in January or early February 2014 in South Africa on the sidelines of the third African National Championships (CHAN),” a CAF statement said. The 2015 Africa Cup finals in Morocco will be the second, after the just-ended tournament in South Africa, to be held in an odd year after the revised calendar of hosting Africa’s flagship football event was switched. According to CAF, the following format will be used: - A preliminary round composed of 10 teams who will each go head-to-head against one another in 2-leg matches. - The 5 qualifying teams will then join the other 43 teams to form 12 groups of 4 teams. - The winner from each group will qualify for a place in the final tournament in Morocco along with the 3 best second placed teams. - For the preliminary round, the CAF will make use of the FIFA rankings. As for the group stages, the CAF rankings shall be used as reference.