Courbis, who spent several months in jail at the end of 2009 for taking bribes to buy and sell players, had accepted an offer to oversee the west African country’s debut at the tournament in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, the Niger Football Federation said.

The 58-year-old would act as an “advisor and super manager and lend his expertise to coach Harouna Douala”, Niger Football Federation president Djibrilla Hima Hamidou said in a radio interview on Wednesday.

Courbis, who accompanied the Niger team to a training match in Dubai and a home friendly against Botswana earlier this month, confirmed his interest in the role on French television on Sunday.

Niger were surprise qualifiers after South Africa bungled the permutations needed to win their preliminary pool and have been drawn in Group C along with co-hosts Gabon, Morocco and Tunisia at the Jan. 21-Feb. 12 finals.