The Executive Director of the Council of East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA), Auka Gecheo has said the CECAFA Kagame Cup 2022 will not take place.

In an interview with Cecafaonline, Gecheo made it clear that the tournament will not take place because they failed to find space to stage it because of a busy schedule for both CAF and FIFA matches throughout the season.

“It is unfortunate we shall not be able to stage the CECAFA Kagame Cup because of a very busy schedule. We are also trying to see where to fix the CECAFA U-23 Boys Championship,” added Gecheo.

The regional tournament that brings together Premier League champions from the CECAFA member countries was last held in Tanzania last year with Uganda’s Express FC emerging champions.

Gecheo however says after staging the CECAFA Senior Women’s Championship in Uganda and the TotalEnergies CAF Women’s Champions League qualifiers for the CECAFA Zone, they still have several tournaments lined up for the year.

He says the TotalEnergies CAF U-17 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers for the CECAFA Zone will take centre stage September 30^th to October 14^th in Addis Ababa, Ehiopia. The TotalEnergies CAf U-20 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers for the CECAFA Zone will also take place October 22 to November 5^th in Khartoum and Al Obeid in Sudan.

In December Uganda is also set to host the qualifiers for the CAF African School Championship.

Young Africans SC’s stand-in coach Razak Siwa has said he is disappointed with the draw against Atlabara FC in a Group A tie played this evening in the ongoing CECAFA Kagame Cup.

The South Sudan side Atlabara FC defended in numbers to hold the Tanzanian giants to a goalless draw in a match played at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium. Although Young Africans SC dominated play for longer spells and created several scoring opportunities, they did not make them count.

“I am not happy with some of the decisions that were made by the referee. We are disappointed to draw for the second time,” said the coach.

The Atlabara FC head coach Monydeng Atit was all praise for his players who he said played as a team. “We were a much better team that during our first game when we lost 1-0 to Express of Uganda. We shall keep working hard and improving in the next match,” said Atit.

After two Group A matches ended in draws, Uganda’s Express FC lead the group with 4 points, while guest side Nyasa Big Bullets FC are second since they have scored two goals, and Young Africans SC who also have 2 points have scored one goal. Atlabara FC are bottom of the log with only one point.

Tomorrow Group B table leaders Azam FC will face Burundi’s Le Messager Ngozi, while KMKM SC (Zanzibar) take on defending champions KCCA FC from Uganda.

Nyasa Big Bullets FC fought from a goal down to hold Express FC to a 1-1 draw in a Group A match of the CECAFA Kagame Cup played this evening in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

The Ugandan side took an early lead with Muzamiru Mutyaba finishing well after 5 minutes at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium.
Godfrey Lwesibawa made a good run on the right flank and crossed for Mutyaba who beat a defender and slotted with a low shot past Nya Big Bullets’ goalkeeper Enerst Kakhobwe.

Martin Kizza should have made 2-0 for Express after 10 minutes, but missed the target. Idama Chimwemwe and Hassan Kajoke also had their shots miss the target for the Malawian side.

After recess the Nyasa Big Bullets FC team put a lot of pressure on the Express defenders. The pressure paid off when substitute Chiykepo Msowoya leveled for Coach Peter Mponda’s side. Msowoya made sure he scored his second goal of the tournament after finding the Express FC defenders flat footed and shot past the goalkeeper.

Nyasa Big Bullets continued to dominate the match, but failed to take their chances. “Express played well and did not give us the space to play our kind of football. We need to improve on the concentration levels because we are giving away goals,” said Nyasa Bullets coach Mponda.

Wasswa Bbosa, the Express FC coach said his players had improved on the fitness side today, but have to improve in finishing.

Express who won their opening game 1-0 against Atlabara lead Group A with 4 points, while Nyasa Big Bullets FC are second with 2 points and Young Africans SC third with a points and Atlabara are bottom with no point. The second Group A game today will Young Africans SC (Tanzania) face South Sudan’s Atlabara FC.

A 62nd goal by Mustafa Kiiza was enough to give KCCA FC victory against Azam FC in the final of the 2019 CECAFA Kagame Club Championship played at the Kigali Stadium, Nyamirambo on Sunday.

The defender fired in a low shot that was slightly deflected past the Azam FC goalkeeper Razak Abalora.

It was victory for the Uganda Premier league champions after 41 years of waiting since they las lifted the regional trophy in 1978. “It is a great feeling to be champions of the CECAFA region. I am happy that my players have got some good international experience during this tournament,” said KCCA FC coach Mike Hillary Mutebi.

KCCA FC who also beat Azam FC by the same margin in the group stage dominated most of the game with Allan Okello, Gift Ali and Sadat Anaku all missing some clear chances.

Azam FC’s Paul Peter and Iddi Selemani also had some scoring chances but shot wide. “It was not our day. We had some chances to score but failed to take them,” said Azam FC’s head coach Etienne Ndayiragije after the game.

The champions KCCA FC received the trophy, medals and a cash prize of  US$30,000 (Shs78 million). The runner’s up Azam FC received US$20,000 and Zambia’s Green Eagles FC who came third took home US$10,000.