Tanzania’s JKT Queens kick started the inaugural CAF U-17 Girls Integrated Football Tournament (GIFT) 2025 with a big win on Tuesday.

JKT Queens defeated Kenya Academy of Sports 3-0 in a match played at the Azam Complex Stadium in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Winifrida Hubert Gerald netted a first half brace, while Janeth Matulanga also got her name on the score sheet after 47 minutes.

The Kenya tam led by skipper Halima Imbachi tried to fight back, but failed to find the goals.

“I am happy with the good start in this tournament. We need to keep improving as we have more matches to come,” said JKT Queens coach Esther Fred Chabruma.

Action continues on Wednesday with Kenya Elite Junior Academy facing City Lights Football Academy (South Sudan), while TDS Girls from Tanzania battle Boni Consilli Girls from Uganda in the second match.

The tournament, a pioneering initiative by CAF aims to promote the development of women’s football across Africa. It will provides a platform to showcase young female footballers, build player capacity and promote women’s football at regional and continental levels.

Sudan Premier League reigning champions Al Hilal are the first team to book a quarter final slot in the on-going 2024/2025 TotalEnergies CAF Champions League.

Coach Folrent Ibenge’s team battled to to a 1-1 draw against MC Alger in a Group A match played on Sunday at the Cheikha Ould Boïdiya Stadium in Nouakchott, Mauritania.

Sofiane Bayazid gave the Algerian side an early 5^th minute lead, but the Al Hilal fought back strongly to level matters through Jean Claued Girumugisha. The Burundian International dribbled past two defenders and unleashed a hard shot that the MC Alger goalkeeper failed to stop.

The draw saw Al Hilal kept top of the table with 10 points and qualify for the knock out stage with two more matches to spare.

“We are very happy that we managed to keep pushing despite conceding an early goal. The players have worked hard to get the draw and qualify for the next stage,” said Ibenge.

Al Hilal who are playing all their matches away from home because of the political unrest in Sudan have won three group matches and drawn once.

The Sudan side will next host Tanzania’s Young Africans SC on January 12^th, 2025, before they play the last match against TP Mazembe six days later in Lubumbashi.

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has announced that the draw for the TotalEnergies CAF African Nations Championship 2024 will take place in Kenya.

According to CAF the draw will be conducted at Kenyatta International Conventional Centre in Nairobi on January 15^th, 2025 at 20h00 local time.

The CHAN 2024 will be hosted by Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania between February 1-28^th.

It will be third time that the CHAN tournament uniquely reserved for African footballers plying their trade in their domestic leagues comes to the Council of East and Central African Football Associations (CECAFA) Zone. Sudan and Rwanda hosted the CHAN tournament before in 2011 and 2016 respectively.

Besides the hosts Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, the other teams that have so far qualified for the CHAN 2024 include; Sudan, Morocco, Central African Republic, Congo Brazzaville, DR Congo, Niger, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Angola, Zambia, Madagascar, Guinea, Mauritania and defending champions Senegal.

Among the teams that have qualified for the CHAN 2024 two teams DR Congo and Morocco have lifted the trophy twice. DR Congo emerged champions in the inaugural Championship in 2009, while Tunisia came top in 2011.

In the third edition held 2014 in Cape Town, South Africa, Libya edged Ghana in the final, while DR Congo returned to win their second trophy in 2016 in Kigali, Rwanda. Morocco made it back-to-back wins in 2018 and 2020, while Senegal emerged champions in 2022.

A lone goal by Jean Charles Ahoua was enough to give Simba SC a vital 1-0 win away to CS Sfaxien in a Group A match of the 2024/2025 TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup.

After stopping the Tunisian side 2-1 in the first leg, Simba SC made sure they collected maximum points against the same side to brighten their hopes of making it to the quarter-final stage.

Ahoua netted the lone goal after 34 minutes at the Stade Olympique Hammadi Agrebi.

The win sends the Tanzanian giants to 9 points in second place behind CS Constantine who humbled Bravos do maquis 4-0 in a later game played on Sunday.

Simba SC will next play away to third placed Bravos do maquis on January 12^th, 2025 and host CS Constantine in the last Group A match on Janaury 19th, 2025 in Dar es Salaam.