CAF Champions League
Djibouti’s Arta Solar battle Dekedaha as CAF Champions League kicks-off
Arta Solar 7 FC will kick start their 1st preliminary round of the 2024/2025 TotalEnergies CAF Champions League against Dekedaha SC on Friday at the Azam Complex in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
The Djibouti Premier League reigning champions Arta Solar are hosting the match in Tanzania because they have no accredited Stadium by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) back in Djibouti.
Arta Solar who are not new to the continental stage will however be a much changed team after the departure of some players including Yacouba Songne.
The Somalia champions Dekedaha SC come into the match with a lot of confidence having played in the recent CECAFA Dar Port Kagame Cup losing two matches to Coastal Union FC (Tanzania) and Al Wadi (Sudan), before beating JKU SC from Zanzibar.
Nigerian import Samuel Adepoju Oluwaseum and Nur Irad Abdullahi are expected to lead the Dekedaha SC team.
On Saturday more teams from the CECAFA Zone will be in action as SC Villa (Uganda) hosts Commercial Bank of Ethiopia at the newly renovated Mandela Stadium, Namboole.
Burundi Premier League champions Vital’O will host Young Africans SC (Tanzania) at the Azam Complex in Dar es Salaam, while Sudan’s Al Merriekh face Al Nasi away in Libya.
South Sudan’s Al Merriekh Bentiu (South Sudan) will host Kenyan champions Gor Mahia FC on Sunday. The other matches to be played the same day will see Azam FC host Rwanda’s APR FC, Al Hilal (Sudan) play away to Al Ahly Benhazi in Libya, and JKU SC (Zanzibar) taking on Pyramids in Cairo, Egypt.