Ulinzi Stars to carry Kenyan flag at Nile Basin tournament
Ulinzi Stars forward John Mark Makwata (centre, facing camera) celebrates with teammates after scoring during their Kenyan Premier League match against Muhoroni Youth at Afraha Stadium in Nakuru on April 4, 2016. PHOTO | SULEIMAN MBATIAH |
What you need to know:
- The top three teams will be awarded Sh3 million, Sh2 million and Sh1 million respectively.
- Ugandan club SC Victoria University are the tournament's defending champions, having defeated AFC Leopards 2-1 in the inaugural competition held in Sudan two years ago.
Kenyan Premier League runners up Ulinzi Stars will represent the country in the second edition of the Nile Basin football tournament next month in Sudan.
The competition, which will be hosted in Sudan's two cities of Khartoum and Kordofan, will run between May 22 and June 4.
Cecafa secretary-general Nicholas Musonye on Thursday told Daily Nation Sport that African champions TP Mazembe of DR Congo and Egyptian giants Al Ahly will be the two guest teams in the tournament.
"We are inviting all the clubs which finished second in their respective leagues across the Cecafa region, plus guests teams from Egypt and the DRC, countries that are part of the Nile Basin,” Musonye said.
“This is a fully funded competition so we will cater for air tickets, accommodation and in house transport for all the visiting teams and officials."
Uganda's most popular team Sports Club (SC) Villa, Tanzania's moneybags Azam SC, Rwanda's Rayon Sport, Ethiopia's Coffee FC and Eritrea's Red Sea will also battle for honours alongside hosts Al Hilal.
Considered one of the big clubs on the local scene with four league titles to their name, Ulinzi have however consistently struggled on the regional and continental front.
The army club managed a quarter final place during their last outing at the Cecafa Kagame Cup, losing 9-8 on post-match penalties to El Merreikh in Tanzania in 2011.
The top three teams will be awarded Sh3 million, Sh2 million and Sh1 million respectively.
Ugandan club SC Victoria University are the tournament's defending champions, having defeated AFC Leopards 2-1 in the inaugural competition held in Sudan two years ago.
