ACCRA, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Ghana's senior national women's team, the Black Queens, will camp in South Africa ahead of their anticipated participation in the 2014 African Women Championships, Elvis Afriyie-Ankrah, minister of Youth and Sports, said here on Wednesday.
Ghana is pushing for a return to Africa's flagship women's football tournament after missing out of the tournament for the first time in 2012 since the biennial championship began in 1998.
Ghana, three-time finalists at the African Women's Championship, will face Ethiopia over two legs in the next qualifier for a slot in the finals to be hosted by Namibia in October.
But the minister said plans were far advanced to have the team camp in South Africa to prepare adequately for the ninth edition of the biennial women's competition, which will attract eight teams.
"The Black Queens are also playing the qualifiers for the 2014 Africa women championship and if they qualify, they will embark on a pre-tournament camping in South Africa to prepare for the main tournament," Afriyie-Ankrah told the press in Accra.
The seven teams to join hosts Namibia for the final tournament will be known on June 8 after the second leg matches of the final round.
The contenders are Algeria, Tunisia, Ethiopia, Ghana, Cote d' Ivoire, and Equatorial Guinea. The rest are Rwanda, Nigeria, Senegal, Cameroon, Comoros, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Zambia.