2012 Africa Cup of Nations - African soccer's governing body, CAF, has ordered the last round of matches in the qualification series for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations to be played simultaneously.

CAF said in a statement obtained by PANA at the weekend that 21 matches to be played on Match Day six next month will kick off at the same time, 'as stated in article 4.3.3 of the competition regulations which stipulates that 'the Organising Committee of the Africa Cup of Nations will be in charge of the fixing, after consulting the organizing associations, the dates, the venues and the time of kick-off of the matches'.”

Though CAF did not give any reason for the directive, analysts said it was aimed at avoiding a situation where some teams could collude to ensure their qualification after knowing the results of other matches.

CAF said it would communicate the exact kick off times to all concerned federations later.

Going into the last round of matches, only six teams have so far qualified for the 16-team finals.

They are co-hosts Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, Cote d'Ivoire, Botswana, Burkina Faso and Senegal.

Pana 12/11/2011