Former Football Kenya Federation (FKF) president Sam Nyamweya is revelling in the region’s record-setting appearance at the African Cup of Nations where for the very first time, four Cecafa member teams will take part.
The event planned for Egypt in June has attracted Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Burundi “While serving as Cecafa secretary general, one of my dreams and desire was to see more than two teams from our region participate in Afcon and I am elated this has finally come to pass,” Nyamweya enthused in his statement.
“I have always been in the forefront of urging Caf executive committee to expand Afcon tournament by increasing the number of participating teams and it is my pride to see that following the increase of participating teams to 24, Cecafa member countries have benefitted big time by placing four teams in Afcon.”
The long-serving retired football administrator revealed his second dream was always to see teams from Cecafa region qualify for Fifa World Cup finals, adding a journey of 1,000 miles starts with one step.
“Considering four of our teams have qualified for the next edition of Afcon, this is the first step forward and come next edition of Fifa World Cup in Qatar, Cecafa region stands a very big chance of being represented following the expansion of teams to 48,” he noted.
It is important for our teams which have qualified for Afcon to take note that qualification is just the first phase.
“The hard part begins by preparing adequately for the tournament which brings together the best footballing nations in the continent and offers the best opportunity for African players to showcase their talents.”
