Amos Adamu says the Wafu tournament will return in April
West Africa's troubled regional body Wafu has been given a new lease of life as dates have been set for the sub-region's flagship tournament.
There has been no Wafu Nations Cup since 2004 because of political infighting.
The tournament will now take place from 9 to 18 April in Abeokuta in south-western Nigeria.
The competition has been dogged by problems and poor planning but recent plans to resuscitate it failed because of the leadership problems.
But since Amos Adamu took over from Ivorian Jacques Anouma in April 2008 the region has enjoyed a successful hosting of a youth and inter-club tournaments.
"After successfully staging a youth and interclub tournaments, we are now prepared for the big one in April," Wafu spokesman Debo Akinyemi told BBC Sport.
"Eight countries will enter a draw for the Wafu tournament on Tuesday in Abeokuta. They will be pitched in a pool of two groups based in Abeokuta and Ijebu Ode.
"As expected it will predominantly involve domestic players playing in the local league while five slots is reserved for foreign based players at the discretion of the football federations,"
The countries that will be drawn into two groups include Ghana, Senegal, Togo, Burkina-Faso, Guinea, Liberia, Benin and hosts Nigeria.
The new leadership secured a US$4m sponsorship deal for Wafu with a telecommunications company hence the successful hosting of the Ibori Cup for the U20 male teams which was won by Ghana.
The Enyadema Inter-Club competition was played in Lome, Togo in December 2009.
Wafu was founded in 1977 with annual national team and club competitions but interest diminished in the early 1990s.
One attempt to revive the team competition ended in disaster in 2002.
Senegal, Sierra Leone and Gambia players were held hostage for nine days in the Ivorian city Bouake after rebel soldiers attacked the city.
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