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Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania to co-host Cecafa Cup this year

The chairman of Kenya’s National Steering Committee for the 2024 Chan and 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon), Nicholas Musonye, speaks during the Sport On show at Nation Centre in Nairobi on January 21, 2025.

Photo credit: Chris Omollo | Nation

What you need to know:

  • In a phone interview with Nation Sport yesterday, Cecafa Executive Director Auka Gecheo confirmed the development, stating that the organisation’s secretariat was given two weeks to provide feedback.
  • “It was a proposal that was put on the table but there was no resolution. It was agreed that the Cecafa’s Secretariat look into the modalities and then provide feedback after two weeks,” said Gecheo.

Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania plan to co-host the Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup either in May or June as a dry run for the delayed 2024 Africa Nations Championships (Chan) that will be jointly hosted by the three east African countries from August 2 to 30. 

The proposal was presented during the Cecafa Ordinary General Assembly, which took place in Juba, South Sudan, on January 22.

“During the Cecafa Congress in Juba last week, the three Local Organising Committees (for the 2024 Chan) met on the sidelines and suggested that we plan to host the Cecafa Challenge Cup in May or June,” said Nicholas Musonye, the chairman of Kenya’s National Steering Committee for the 2024 Chan and 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon), in an interview with Nation Sport. 

In a phone interview with Nation Sport yesterday, Cecafa Executive Director Auka Gecheo confirmed the development, stating that the organisation’s secretariat was given two weeks to provide feedback.

“It was a proposal that was put on the table but there was no resolution. It was agreed that the Cecafa’s Secretariat look into the modalities and then provide feedback after two weeks,” said Gecheo.

Should the plan materialise, it will be the first time in the tournament’s history that it is being hosted in more than one country.

Founded in 1926 as Gossage Cup, the Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup is Africa’s oldest football tournament. 
The tournament was last held in 2021 in Ethiopia, featuring Under-23 players. However, teams were allowed to include up to three overage players.

Initially, the 2024 Chan was scheduled for September last year, before being postponed to February 1 to 28 this year and then August 1 to 30 to give the host nations more to prepare.

In postponing the biennial tournament, which is reserved for players who have featured in local leagues of the country for the last six months, CAF president Patrice Motsepe said that Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania needed more time to ensure that their infrastructure was at the level required by the continental football governing body.

“I am impressed with the ongoing construction and renovations of the football infrastructure and facilities in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. I am confident that the stadiums, training fields, hotels, hospitals, and other infrastructure and facilities will be at the requisite CAF standards for hosting, in August 2025,” said Motsepe in a statement on January 14.

To ensure that all the three countries are aligned in their preparations to co-host the 2027 Chan, Musonye revealed that the three countries had agreed to form a “joint LOC to fine-tune and harmonise the activities of the three LOCS.”

The veteran football administrator added that the three LOCs will in mid-February meet in Kampala, Uganda to come up with a comprehensive roadmap to the tournament. 

The agenda of the meeting, Musonye said, will include the setting up of a central workplace from where the three LOCs, the three Sports Ministers, and Permanent Secretaries can coordinate operations.

He said that Nyayo National Stadium and Moi International Sports Centre (MISC), Kasarani will be ready for use by the end of February.

Training venues, which include MISC Annex, Police Sacco Stadium, and Ulinzi Sports Complex, will be ready by February 20, Musonye said.

“This will mean the LOC will now embark on the operational and logistical issues around the tournament. 
“Uganda and Tanzania have also set the end of February to have all their facilities ready and handed over to CAF.

We the three LOCs have also agreed to prepare our teams adequately in order to avoid group elimination,” he said.

votieno@ke.nationmedia.com