Why Cecafa women's cup has been postponed

What you need to know:

  • The decision to postpone the tournament was taken by the Rwanda Football Federation (Ferwafa) on Tuesday, as it had yet to receive money meant to host the competition from Cecafa as earlier promised.
  • “With just a few days to the start of the tournament initially set for Saturday, May 12, 2018, Ferwafa has not received funds to host the tournament from Cecafa as agreed last month despite repeated correspondences and calls to Cecafa Secretariat requesting hosting funds to be availed to ensure the smooth organization of the tournament.

Eight women’s national football teams from the region, including Kenya’s Harambee Starlets, will be forced to break off camp immediately following the postponement of the Cecafa Women’s Challenge Cup that was to take place from May 12 to 22 in Kigali, Rwanda.

The decision to postpone the tournament was taken by the Rwanda Football Federation (Ferwafa) on Tuesday, as it had yet to receive money meant to host the competition from Cecafa as earlier promised.

“With just a few days to the start of the tournament initially set for Saturday, May 12, 2018, Ferwafa has not received funds to host the tournament from Cecafa as agreed last month despite repeated correspondences and calls to Cecafa Secretariat requesting hosting funds to be availed to ensure the smooth organization of the tournament.

“Ferwafa will take a decision to host this tournament upon reception of hosting funds. At that time, both Ferwafa and Cecafa will sit to decide on the suitable dates when this tournament will be staged,” read a communiqué released by the Rwanda federation on Tuesday.

When contacted, Cecafa Secretary General Nicholas Musonye said the tourney has been postponed by just a week to allow them receive the requisite funds from the Confederation of African Football (Caf).

“We are pushing it by just one week. We have received communication from Caf that they have wired the money and so we shall collect those funds tomorrow (Wednesday) so that we finalise the planning and logistics. It is just a minor adjustment and we ask teams to continue preparing for the tournament,” he said.

Musonye took issue with Caf on Friday last week, saying that thy were yet to release the requisite funds allocated for the tournament by Fifa, although he promised that everything else was in order to facilitate a smooth tournament.

Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Djibouti, Burundi, Zanzibar and the hosts are all in camp in their respective countries in preparation for the tournament which is making a comeback after a year-long hiatus.

Starlets are camping at the Ruiru Stadium in Kiambu County in preparation for the ten-day tournament.

Until last week, five nations among them Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Djibouti had confirmed their participation, while Burundi and Zanzibar were expected to send their confirmation by the end of this week.

The tournament is to be held at the Nyamirambo stadium in Kigali, and bankrolled by the Rwandan government in partnership with “local well-wishers” who are yet to be disclosed.

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