Cecafa set to name Yanga's replacement in Kagame Cup

Cecafa Secretary General Nicholas Musonye will Wednesday morning name the team which will replace Tanzania’s Young Africans SC in the upcoming Cecafa Club Championship, Nation Sport has learnt.

Musonye confirmed that Yanga have officially pulled out of the competition but said they will be replaced by another team from Tanzania which will be named after consultations with the will be known Tanzanian Football Federation on Wednesday.

Musonye also revealed that Cecafa Women’s Championship, which was abruptly postponed last month due to lack of funds, will be held in Rwanda from July 19-29.

“We will host the two events one after the other. Everything is set for Kagame Cup, and we are just consulting on who will replace Yanga,” said Musonye.

“Seven countries have confirmed participation for the women’s tournament and we have already secured funds for it. Expect no more postponements,” assured Musonye.

The Cecafa Club Championship and the Cecafa Women’s Championship are both scheduled to return this year after missing in action in the last two years.

The men’s club championship, popularly known as Kagame Cup, will be held between June 28 and July 13 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania for the first time since 2015, while the women’s showpiece has not taken place since September 2016.

Kagame Cup will see 12 teams from Kenya, Zanzibar, Uganda, Tanzania, Somalia, Ethiopia, Burundi and Djibouti battle it out for the title.

Kenyan champions Gor Mahia, who emerged runners up in the 2015 edition, have been drawn in Group B of this month’s tourney alongside Rwanda’s Rayon Sport, Burundi’s Lydia Ludic and Ports of Djibouti.

Yanga were in Group C alongside arch-rivals Simba SC, Ethiopia’s St George and Dakadaha of Somalia, but they pulled out late last week owing to a “tight schedule”.

Group A has Tanzania’s Azam, who are the defending champions, Uganda’s Vipers, JKU from Zanzibar and Kator FC from South Sudan.

K’Ogalo are scheduled to open their campaign against Rayon Sport on July 1, before taking on Lydia of Burundi on July 3. They will the wrap up their group stage engagements against Ports on July 4.

The 7,000-seater Chamazi Stadium in Mbagala and the National Stadiums in Dar es Salaam have been set aside to host the matches whose winner will go home with Sh3 million cash award.

Group A: Azam FC (Tanzania), Vipers SC (Uganda), JKU (Zanzibar), Kator FC (South Sudan)

Group B: Rayon Sports (Rwanda), Gor Mahia (Kenya), Lydia Ludic (Burundi), Ports (Djibouti)

Group C: Team X (from Tanzania), Simba (Tanzania), St. George (Ethiopia), Dakadaha (Somalia)