Sh200m Fifa boost to Cecafa for four tourneys
Kenya goalkeeper Patrick Matasi hoists the 2017 Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup after Harambee Stars beat Zanzibar in the final at Kenyatta Stadium, Machakos on December 17. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- The region’s two flagship tournaments the Cecafa Kagame Cup and the Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup will certainly be the main attractions.
- The Kagame Cup will be hosted by Kenya in June while the Challenge Cup, which was the only tourney held last year, will be played in November in Tanzania.
- Both will be sponsored by Tanzania-based Azam TV to the tune of Sh40 million.
The Council of East and Central Africa Football Associations (Cecafa) has received Sh200 million from world football governing body, Fifa, to finance four regional football competitions this year, secretary general Nicholas Musonye revealed Thursday.
Musonye said all traditional annual Cecafa competitions will be held with the Under-17 championship in Burundi getting the packed programme going
The region’s two flagship tournaments the Cecafa Kagame Cup and the Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup will certainly be the main attractions.
The Kagame Cup will be hosted by Tanzania in June while the Challenge Cup, which was the only tourney held last year, will be played in November
Both will be sponsored by Tanzania-based Azam TV to the tune of Sh40 million.
Women’s championship and beach soccer will also be staged.
“The region will not starve from international football this year. We are good to go, let the ball get rolling now,” said Musonye.
“We start with the U-17 championship in Burundi then in May, the women’s tourney in Rwanda and beach soccer in Uganda who will also host the U-20 championship in September,” underscored Musonye.
“We’ve rescheduled the U-17 tourney to start from April 14 to 29 so that teams can use it as preparations for the 2019 Africa U-17 Cup of Nations Cup to be hosted in Tanzania. Everything is on course, I was in Burundi for the inspection and stadiums are super and ready for the competition,” the regional football boss and former journalist added.
Three cities have been earmarked for the tourney that returns after a nine-year hiatus namely Ngozi, home town to the country’s President Pierre Nkurunziza, Gitega and Muyinga.
Burundi is hosting the championship for the second time. They first hosted the event in 2007. The second edition was held in Kenya in 2009.
“This is an important competition for us because we shall be using it to prepare for the upcoming qualifiers for U-17 Africa Cup of Nations to be played in August next year,” said Football Kenya Federation (FKF) CEO Robert Muthomi said.
He added: “It will be helpful to the boys to learn vital aspects of the game for their future football development and also because we are going to face the same teams during the qualifiers.”
Muthomi announced that the junior Kenya team will be handled by the federation’s technical department led by German Andreas Spier and his deputy Michael Amenga.
A total of 32 players selected from the FKF Youth leagues are currently in residential camp at Kasarani.
The team will be whittled down to 20 for the tourney that will include 12 other nations among them Uganda, Somalia, Djibouti, Eritrea, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Zanzibar, Ethiopia, Rwanda and the hosts.
