The Confederation of East and Central Africa Football Associations, Cecafa plans to host the Kagame Club Championships in late June in the Ethiopian capital of Addis.
The Cecafa Media Officer Rogers Mulindwa has confirmed the development in an interview with MTNFootball.com. Mulindwa said they have drawn up the programme to have the tournament in late June, after two matches in the 2014 World Cup qualifier have been played.
The Cecafa secretary general Nicholas Musonye also said that although Ethiopia was the lone bidder to host this year’s East Africa’s annual regional club championship, they have up to the end of April to be guaranteed of staging the annual tournament.
“I am aware they were also still looking around for sponsors so that they stage a successful tournament, but they need to let us know early so that we plan and perhaps give it to another nation that is willing to host if they have failed,” said Musonye.
Musonye said Ethiopia planned to host the championships in September but Cecafa asked them to bring it closer to May or June.
“If they can’t do that, we can’t play in September. They have been told to give us the exact date not beyond July. The club championship is a very important tournament in our zone,” added Musonye.
Hosting the event will be a big boost to Ethiopia, who are still reveling in their 2013 AFCON outing in South Africa despite not advancing from the group stage after ending a 31-year absence from the tournament.
Meanwhile, Sudan has expressed interest in organising the championship. They want to host the event in the capitals of North Darfur, El Fasher and South Kordofan and Kadugli from June 2-July 4.
They want it hosted in the towns of El Fasher and Kadugli in the context of the considerable role of the sport to peoples and nations and a full emphasis on stability of security situation in the states.
However, Musonye is yet to give a go-ahead on this matter as he awaits response from Addis.
By Bonnie Mugabe, The New Times