On May 1, 1926, Kenya battled to a 1-1 draw with Uganda in the first ever match of Gossage Cup, which later became the Council of East and Central African Football Associations (Cecafa) Senior Challenge Cup.
The contest, held at Railway Sports Ground in Nairobi, marked the start of what would become the heartbeat of football in the region. Cecafa region itself is Africa’s oldest regional football federation. Almost a century later, the Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup is struggling to stay alive, with Africa’s oldest regional football tournament teetering from one challenge to another .
Cecafa’s new office holders elected on Saturday in Djibouti have a full in tray, but can the new leadership revive not only Africa’s oldest regional football tournament but also rejuvenate the regional football governing body at a time East Africa is preparing to host the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations? Cecafa has 12 member federations, namely Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Djibouti, Eritrea, Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan, Zanzibar, and Burundi.
Kenya's starting line-up in their Cecafa Under-18 Boys tournament final matc against Uganda on December 8, 2023 at Jomo Kenyatta International Stadium in Kisumu.
Photo credit: Ondari Ogega | Nation Media Group
In Cecafa Elective General Assembly held on Saturday at the Djibouti Palace Kempinski, Paulos Weldehaimanot Andemariam, the president of the Eritrean National Football Federation was elected unopposed as Cecafa president.
Somalia’s Football Federation President Ali Abdi Mohammed was elected the vice president, while Rwanda Football Federation’s president Shema Ngoga Fabrice, and South Sudan Football Federation president Francis Amin Michael were elected members of Cecafa’s executive committee. The officials will serve for a four-year term.
Beyond reviving the Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup, the new leadership has a full in-tray, which includes securing more sponsorships for the regional football governing body, making the Cecafa tournaments more lucrative, rebuilding confidence among member associations, and inspiring confidence in the organisation. The Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup was last held in 2019.
In an interview with Nation Sport in October last year, Andrew Oryada, Cecafa’s Head of Marketing and Communications, said failure to stage the tournament in the last five years was occasioned by financial constraints, congested fixtures and lack of proper facilities by some member associations capable of hosting the matches. Hosting a successful Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup, he said, requires about $400,000 (Sh51.7 million). Promising that the tournament would return this year, Oryada said many sponsors have already expressed willingness to support the association’s activities.
Uganda's starting line-up in their Cecafa Under-18 Boys tournament final match against Kenya on December 8, 2023 at Jomo Kenyatta International Stadium in Kisumu.
Photo credit: Ondari Ogega | Nation Media Group
“Many of the companies are getting back, which is good news. Members have said that we have missed the Challenge Cup this year, so we need to make it happen next year,” Oryada said last year. Cecafa Kagame Cup, Cecafa Women’s Championship, Cecafa Women’s Champions League, Cecafa Under-20 Championship, Cecafa Under-15, 17 and 20 are some of the other tournaments organised by the regional football governing body.
But without lucrative financial incentives due to limited financial resources, the tournaments have become unattractive to teams from the region, which have responded by keeping off. For instance, the total prize pool for the 2025 Kagame Cup was $60,000 (Sh7, 740,000) with the winner, runners up and third placed team receiving $30,000 (Sh3.87 million), $20,000 (Sh2.58m) and $10,000 (Sh1.29m) respectively. Similar cash awards were awarded for the 2021 Cecafa Women’s Champions League. Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup winner has often received Sh3.8 million. Being a pale shadow of its former self, some countries have been reluctant to register for Cecafa tournaments – presenting a significant challenge for the new officials to rebuild their confidence. Last year, Kenya withdrew from the Cecafa Four-nation tournament planned for Arusha due to “improper conditions.”
under which the competition was to be held. The tournament was to form part of the team’s preparations for the 2024 African Nations Championship (Chan) held in August last year. At the time, former Cecafa Executive Director Auka Gacheo termed Kenya’s withdrawal as “unfair.”
“We find the withdrawal of Kenya to be unfair, especially after extensive efforts were made to meet the federation’s requests,” said Gacheo in a statement. Will the new office succeed in reviving Africa’s oldest regional football association?
