Uganda Cranes will defend their Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup title in Kenya this year after the Council for East and Central African Football Associations (Cecafa) confirmed today that Kenya will host this year’s event.
Nicholas Musonye, the Cecafa Secretary General, told RED Pepper Online on phone from Nairobi this afternoon that the Football Kenya Federation (KKF) had finally confirmed their readiness to host the event.
After months of speculation on who will host, one of the oldest tournaments in Africa will be returned to Kenya. The regional event is slated to take place November 24 to December 8th.
During the Cecafa Congress held in Kampala, Uganda last year Rwanda and Kenya had been picked to work towards hosting the event, but the Rwanda FA opted to host next year’s event in readiness to host the 2016 CHAN competition.
The last time Kenya hosted the regional tournament was in 2009 and fan attendance was notably low.
East African Breweries Limited (EAB), through the popular brand, Tusker sponsored the championship for three years and the contract ended last year after the tournament in Uganda.
In the last three years East African Breweries Limited has been injecting US$400,000 annually for the competition. However, the regional body has been trying to convince the region’s largest beer selling company to increase their package in-case they renew their contract.
The nations expected to participate include; Kenya, Tanzania, Zanzibar, Burundi, Eritrea, Somalia, Djibouti, Sudan, South Sudan, Burundi, Ethiopia, Rwanda and defending champions Uganda.
Source:redpepper
