committee, it is the work of Malek Khalfallah that is retained. It is an eagle, which the author baptized Nçayir. The colors of its equipment, red and white, refer to the colors of the Tunisian flag. Match ball The official ball for the 2004 African Cup of Nations is the Adidas Fevernova. Designed two years earlier by Adidas for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, the ball was reused during 2004 African Cup of Nations. Qualification The 49 nations registered for the competition are divided into thirteen groups: ten groups of four teams and three groups of three teams. The selections of Guinea-Bissau, Sao Tome and Principe and Djibouti forfeit before the start of qualifying. The first of each group qualify for the final tournament in Tunisia, as well as the best of the second. Cameroon, as defending champion, and Tunisia, as host country, are automatically qualified for the final phase of the competition. First participation Benin and Rwanda manage to qualify for the AFCON for the first final phase of their history, after finishing at the top of their group in the qualifiers in front of two former African champions, Sudan and Ghana. Zimbabwe do the same after finishing first in the finalists in all qualifying groups. Qualified teams The following sixteen teams qualified for the tournament. Venues The five cities selected to host the event are coastal. Match officials The following referees were chosen for the 2004 Africa Cup of Nations. Referees Divine Evehe Abubakar Sharaf Jérôme Damon Modou Sowe Tessama Hailemalek Falla N'Doye Mohamed Guezzaz Abdul Hakim Shelmani Essam Abd El Fatah Lassina Paré Coffi Codjia Alain Hamer Eddy Maillet Koman Coulibaly Ali Bujsaim Hichem Guirat Squads As is the case in all versions of the African Cup of Nations, each team participating in the tournament must consist of 23 players (including three goalkeepers). Participating national teams must confirm the final list of 23 players no later than ten days before the start of the tournament. In the event that a player suffers an injury which prevents him from participating in the tournament, his team has the right to replace him with another player at any time up to 24 hours before the team's first game. Format Only the hosts received an automatic qualification spot; the other 15 teams qualified through a qualification tournament. At the finals, the 16 teams were drawn into four groups of four teams