Kenya will host this year’s Council of East and Central Africa Football Association (Cecafa) Under-17 women’s Challenge Cup.
Cecafa secretary general, Nicholas Musonye said they are waiting for suitable dates from the Football Kenya Federation. He, however, said that their programmes will kick off in June and conclude with the Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup that will be hosted by record winners Uganda in December. Musonye confirmed that seven tournaments will be held with the first being the U-17 Challenge Cup to be hosted by Eritrea, whose players have been a pariah in the regional football, going AWOL in neighbouring countries after taking part in Cecafa events. “The tight programme will commence in June and run back-to-back to December with all the activities endorsed and funded by Fifa. The member associations have further resolved to ensure they contribute to a solidarity fund that will guarantee the Senior Challenge Cup (the flagship showpiece of Cecafa) is held without fail every year,” Musonye indicated in a statement.
He said Cecafa programme will be harmonised with the Caf calendar to ensure everything runs smoothly. The Kagame Cup, a tournament for league and cup winners from member federations will be held in Rwanda. Kenya are likely to be represented by Gor Mahia and Shield winners Kariobangi Sharks from July.
Other tournaments that will be held this year are the Under-20 women and men Challenge Cup in Uganda and the Senior Women’s Challenge Cup in Tanzania. Dar will also play host to the African Junior Nations Cup, a tournament for the Under-17s, in April.
With two teams from the region, Kenya’s Harambee Stars and Uganda Cranes, already qualified for this year’s Afcon in Egypt and with Tanzanian and Burundi having a fair chance of joining them, Cecafa members have vowed to work hard to ensure the region is well represented in the tournament.
Cecafa is one of the regions in Africa that were selected to host regional Fifa development offices. The others are being set up in Dakar, Senegal and Johannesburg, South Africa.