NAIROBI, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) -- Kenya, who is the silver medalist from Africa Beach Games, will have two teams out of the 66 that have been cleared to compete in the Continental Cup, which acts as a qualifier for Tokyo Olympic Games.
Confederation of African Volleyball (CAVB) president Amr Elwani said in a statement that 66 men's and women's teams will be taking part in the third Continental Cup after the registration process closed on Oct. 14.
"Among the participating national teams, there will be 35 men and 31 women teams. The Sub-Zonal Phase will be held from mid-November through to January 15 next year," Elwani said on Thursday.
In the men's event, 36 countries will be pooled in seven zones. In zone one, Tunisia will host Algeria, Libya and Morocco with the best two proceedings to the second phase.
Gambia will host Zone two matches, which will have Senegal, Mauritania and Cape Verde Islands while Ghana will be at home facing Cote d'Ivoire and Mali.
Congo Brazzaville will host Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Chad where the best three teams will proceed to the second phase.
Kenya, who is in zone five, will travel to Kampala to face the hosts, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan and Tanzania. Eritrea will welcome Egypt, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somali and Sudan. The best four teams out of the zone will make it to the second phase.
South Africa and Zambia will host zone five teams. In Johannesburg, the hosts will welcome Lesotho, Botswana, Mozambique and Swaziland while in Lusaka will congregate the hosts, Zimbabwe, Angola, Malawi and Namibia.
Zone seven will meet in Mauritius having Madagascar, Seychelles and Comoros with only the winner proceeding to the second phase.
The 21 teams will be accompanied by the best third-ranked teams to make 24, who will qualify for the second phase, where they will be divided into four pools of six teams. The top two will make it to the finals.
In the women's category, 32 countries will take part in the seven zones, with Morocco hosting zone one, which has Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Mozambique. Only the winner will make it to the second phase.
Guinea, Ghana, Togo, DRC, Tanzania, South Africa and Mauritius will host the other six zonal games where 19 teams will be accompanied by the best third-ranked team to make 20 teams in the second phase.
The top two will make the finals. The winner of the men and women Continental Cup will qualify directly for the Tokyo Olympic Games.
