Cecafa: Only women will officiate tourney in Rwanda

The upcoming Cecafa Women’s Championship will be handled by an all-woman technical and administrative team, Nation Sport has learnt.

Cecafa Secretary General Nicholas Musonye on Friday said that this year’s tournament, which is slated for May 12-22 in Rwanda, will be presided over by female referees and officials drawn from across the continent.

This, he said, is in a bid to promote the development of women’s football in the region as well as offer opportunities for female administrators and technical personnel who have acquired training in the aforementioned fields.

“I will be the only man there,” he said. “Everything will be done by women because this is a women’s event. We decided as a regional body that women be allowed more opportunities to showcase their capabilities, and we have started with this tournament. We want the Cecafa region to be the leading sub-regional body in matters of women’s football development.”

“We are also planning to hold a symposium for women football stakeholders in the region. We are still working on the finer details but the general theme of the symposium will be the Development of Women’s Football.”

CAF YET TO DELIVER MONEY

Six nations, namely Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Ethiopia, Djibouti, hosts Rwanda and defending champions Tanzania, have so far confirmed participation in the tournament while Burundi and Zanzibar are expected to register by the end of the week.

This year’s women’s showpiece will be held at the Nyamirambo Stadium in Kigali, and will be sponsored by the Rwandan government in partnership with “local well-wishers” who are yet to be disclosed.

Meanwhile, Musoye has said that the body is yet to receive sponsorship money from the Confederation of African Football (Caf), but that everything else is in order ahead of the showpiece.

“Fifa already sent money to Caf, and we are now waiting for Caf to deliver it to us. Everything else is in order and I want to assure participating teams that they will have a smooth tournament,” he said.

The Cecafa Women’s Championship is returning after a year-long hiatus that was occasioned by lack of a funds.

The tournament was last held in September 2016 in Jinja, Uganda, where the Kilimanjaro Queens of Tanzania emerged champions after stunning Kenya’s Harambee Starlets 2-1 in the final.

Meanwhile, a 26-woman Harambee Starlets squad is in camp at the Ruiru Stadium in Kiambu County in preparation for the 10-day tournament.