NEWS
It’s D-Day for CECAFA U-23 Challenge Cup semi finals in Ethiopia
After battling through the group stages four teams will this afternoon be all out to prove a point at the semi final stage of the CECAFA U-23 Challenge Cup.
The first game will see Tanzania face surprise package South Sudan, and later Burundi will take on Kenya’s Emerging Stars at the Bahir Dar Stadium, Ethiopia.
Kim Poulsen, the Tanzania coach has made it clear that they will not underrate the South Sudan team because they are a physical team that is also good at passing the ball. “We must approach this semi final match with a lot of caution and also take our chances,” added Poulsen.
The Tanzanian team will however miss the suspended first choice goalkeeper Boniface Mnata Metacha who accumulated two yellow cards in their group games where they beat DR Congo 1-0 and drew 1-1 with Uganda.
For the South Sudan team that scored late goals to beat Djibouti 2-0 in their last group game to make it to the knock out stage, they will hope that Dominic Angelo Kornello and Aluk Akeck Mabior find their scoring touch again.
South Sudan’s head coach Simon James Yor made it clear that although the Tanzanian team is good on the ball, his team will use a strategy which will tame their opponents. “We also need to be sharp at goal because this is a knock out stage,” added the coach.
The second semi final match pitting the highest scoring teams in the tournament promises to be a thriller. Paul Reagan Otieno and Benson Ochieng Oluoch will be determined to continue with their scoring form for the Kenyan team that has also not conceded a goal yet. “We have had enough time to rest and also prepare for the semi final. I have watched Burundi play and they are not an easy side,” said Kenya’s coach Stanley Khayo Okumbi.
Kenya started their campaign with a 3-0 win against Djibouti, before stopping South Sudan 2-0. The Burundi team humbled Eritrea 3-0 and settled for a 1-1 draw against hosts Ethiopia.
Burundi’s coach Jimmy Ndayizeye made it clear that playing at the semi final stage is good for his young players. “I am happy that we are at the semi final stage. We are going to approach this game with a lot of caution to defend well and also try to take our chance at goal,” added Ndayizeye.
Tomorrow action will shift to the classification matches with Ethiopia facing DR Congo to determine which team will be ranked seventh and eighth, while Eritrea battle Uganda in a fifth and sixth ranking match. The tournament will come to climax on July 30th.
KVZ FC will represent Zanzibar in the 2026/2027 TotalEnergies CAF Champions League.
The KVZ FC side emerged champions of the 2025/2026 Zanzibar PBZ Premier League giving the army team the ticket to play in Africa’s biggest tournament.
KVZ FC were crowned champions on Friday after finishing with 67 points from 30 matches played, while JKU SC came second with 64 points.
Hussein Ahmada, General Secretary of the Zanzibar Football Federation (ZFF) says they had a successful season. “We thank all the teams and our sponsors PBZ Bank for the constant support of Football,” added Ahmada.
The Zanzibar champions will however start their test of continental Football when they take part in the regional CECAFA Kagame Cup to take place in Rwanda next month.
Several members from Member Associations in the CECAFA Zone are attending the 2026 FIFA Executive Football Summits 2026 in Miami, United States.
The Presidents and General Secretaries of Member Associations of Burundi, Sudan, Kenya, Ethiopia and Rwanda have joined other members from around the world to exchange ideas, strengthen relationships and shape the future of the game.
Among other things the summit is being used as a platform to sensitise Member Associations on key FIFA programmes, including the FIFA Forward programme and the scheduled launch of FIFA Forward 4 in January 2027.
Mattias Grafström, the FIFA Secretary General opened the plenary session by setting out the summit’s dual ambition: a formal programme of sessions covering youth development and strategy, alongside the informal exchange of ideas that has become a hallmark of the event.
FIFA Executive Summit 2026
The FIFA President Gianni Infantino also thanked all members for attending the Summit. “Ten years ago, those of you who are a little bit older maybe remember the Development Programme that FIFA had was granting to every Member Association one million (US dollars) in four years, meaning 250,000 US dollars per year,” said Infantino.
He explained that today with FIFA Forward 3.0, Member Associations receive US$8 million (around two million every year), to invest in competitions, to invest in infrastructure, and to invest in football-related projects.
He also added that the FIFA Series, which was played in a total of 12 different countries in 2026 between the women’s and men’s editions, was an example of how FIFA was helping MAs. Rwanda and Kenya hosted the FIFA Series this year for the men and Women respectively.
Africa’s top male referee Omar Abdulkadir Artan has been selected to officiate the the Union of European Football Associations – UEFA Super Cup final in August, 2026.
“We’re pleased to share that Somali referee Omar Artan will officiate the highly anticipated match between PSG and Aston Villa in Salzburg,” said the statement from UEFA.
The development comes after the Somali referee was selected to officiate at the FIFA World Cup 2026, but was denied entry into US early this week and returned back home.
The European soccer body UEFA said Artan will referee the math on August 12th game between the Champions League winner Paris Saint-Germain and Aston Villa, the Europa League winner. The game will be in Salzburg, Austria.
The European Soccer body said the decision to appoint Artan to officiate the UEFA Super Cup match has been made in the framework of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) recently signed between UEFA and the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to encourage cooperation in many areas, including refereeing. “UEFA and CAF are united by a shared commitment to developing football at all levels and promoting the core values of unity, equality and non-discrimination,” said UEFA on their website.
On Wednesday Artan received a hero’s welcome back in Mogadishu, and also met the President of the Federal Republic of Somalia, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.
The Harambee Stars of Kenya have settled for a 1-1 draw against Lesotho in an International friendly match played on Thursday in Pretoria, South Africa.
Frank Odhiambo gave Kenya the lead after 14 minutes at the Lucas Moripe Stadium.
The two teams continued to create some decent scoring opportunities, but failed to convert them.
After recess the Lesotho team re-organised themselves and leveled matters through Thabo Makhele. The match ended 1-1 and the two teams will face-off again on June 7th at the same Stadium.
Ethiopia will also be in action against Malawi on June 6th at the Addis Ababa Stadium, and the second match to be played after three days.
The other teams from the Council of East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA) Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda had their scheduled matches in Morocco cancelled due to sanitary and public health considerations.
The teams are using the FIFA Window to play International friendly matches as they prepare ahead of the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2027 qualifiers.
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