NEWS
Rwanda President Paul Kagame meets with CECAFA Zone leaders
The President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame on Thursday met presidents of Member Associations in the Council of East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA) Zone.
He met the Presidents from the CECAFA Zone at his official office at the sidelines of the 73rd FIFA Congress.
During the meeting Kagame who has financially supported the regional CECAFA Club Championship named the Kagame Cup for over 10 years called upon co-operation and team work from all the Member Associations and governments in the region noting that there was more to be gained by working together.
The Rwanda President made it clear that working together is vital to ensure that none of the member associations is left behind in the quest to grow sports and in particular football in the regions.
Wallace Karia, the CECAFA President and President of the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) thanked Kagame for the support he has given CECAFA over the years and congratulated him for successfully hosting the 73 rd FIFA congress, the first in Africa.
The CECAFA President also noted that due to Kagame’s commitment to Football, CECAFA has approached and secured support from both President Suluhu Hassan of Tanzania, supporting Women’s Football and President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni of Uganda, who will support U-23 Football in the region.
Karia pointed out that the CECAFA Zone has challenges of Stadia infrastructure noting that only two member associations at the moment, Tanzania and Rwanda are playing their CAF and FIFA matches at home.
He humbly requested President Kagame, in his capacity as the CECAFA patron and from his love and passion and commitment to Football to pass a humble message to the other heads of state in the region and appeal for their investment in Sports Infrastructure and in particular, to ensure that each country has a facility to host CAF And FIFA competitions.
Kagame promised to pass the message appealing for investment in sports infrastructure to his counterparts and urged the Member Association Presidents to also play their role. The Rwanda President noted that the youth in the region are the majority, accounting for almost 50% of the populace and Sports is a critical avenue to addressing the youth and offering opportunities for them.
The final stage of the TotalEnergies CAF African Nations Championship 2024 takes centre stage this weekend with two matches on card in the CECAFA Zone.
South Sudan who stopped Kenya in the last round will host Rwanda at the Juba National Stadium, while Ethiopia face Sudan in a match to be played in Benghazi, Libya, all on Sunday.
Burundi will also face Uganda in the first leg on December 26th in a match they will host at the Nakivubo Hamz Stadium in Kampala. The return legs will be played before December 29th, 2024.
Already hosts of the CHAN 2024 Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania have automatically qualified ahead of the 19 teams tournament exclusively featuring players from domestic leagues across Africa.
The tournament will take place in East Africa from February 1-28, 2025. It is only Sudan and Rwanda who have hosted the CHAN tournament before in the CECAFA Zone.
AFRICAN NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP
CAF President praises Wallace Karia for Football development in Tanzania
The President of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), Dr. Patrice Motsepe has praised Wallace Karia for the good work he is doing in the development of Football in Tanzania.
Dr. Motsepe said this in Dar es Salaam on Thursday during the start of his two- day visit of the three nations that will host the TotalEnergies CAF African Nations Championship 2024 (CHAN).
“I am proud of the good work Wallace Karia is doing in the development of Football in Tanzania,” Dr. Motsepe said this while touring the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium. Karia is the President of the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) and the Council of East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA).
The CAF President also thanked Tanzania’s President, Her Excellency Samia Suluhu Hassan and Hussein Mwinyi, the President of Zanzibar for the continuously support of football development.
Dr. Motsepe was accompanied by the 4th CAF Vice President Seidou Mbombo Njoya, Chairperson of the CHAN Organising Committee, Tanzania Football Federation President Wallace Karia and CAF General Secretary Veron Mosengo-Omba.
The CAF delegation are expected to arrive in Nairobi, Kenya on Thursday night ahead of their inspection on Friday and a meeting with Kenya President William Ruto and leadership of Kenya Football Federation. They will later travel to Kampala on Friday afternoon to meet with the Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and the leadership of FUFA.
Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda will hosts CHAN 2024 from 1 to 28 February 2025.
CAF Confederation Cup
President Samia Suluhu applauds Simba SC for stopping CS Sfaxien in CAF Confederation tie
The President of Tanzania, Dr. Samia Suluhu Hassan has applauded Simba SC following their 2-1 win against CS Sfaxien in a TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup match played on Sunday in Dar es salaam.
Sfaxien took an early lead through Hazem Haj Hassen after only three minutes at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium, but Simba SC fought back strongly.
Denis Kibu leveled matters four minutes later and netted the winning goal nine minutes into added time.
The win sends Simba SC to six points and third on the log, while Bravos do Maquis who beat CS Constantine last evening 3-2 move top of Group A.
Following Simba SC’s hard fought victory, the President of Tanzania Samia Suluhu Hassan has come out to congratulate them for the good display.
“Congratulations to the Lions Club for the victory in the Confederations Cup game in Africa against CS Sfaxien. You continue to give Tanzanians happiness and entertainment by flying the flag of our country internationally, while we continue to remain united in work, peace, unity, stability and solidarity. I wish you all the best in your next games,” said the President
Simba SC, CECAFA’s only representatives in the Group stage of the TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup will next travel to face CS Sfaxien on January 5th, 2025 in Tunisia.
Sudan giants Al Hilal have continued with their winning ways in the 2024/2025 TotalEnergies CAF Champions League Group A campaign.
Coach Florent Ibenge’s side stunned hosts MC Alger 1-0 with Guessouma Fofana scoring the lone goal after 76 minutes in Algiers, Algeria on Saturday night.
The win keeps Al Hilal comfortably top of the log with nine points after they had also stopped Young Africans SC 2-0 in Dar es Salaam and defeated TP Mazembe 2-1 in a match played in Mauritania a week ago.
“I am very happy that my players remained focused and collected the three points. We need to keep focused because we still have more games to go,” said Ibenge after the match.
In an earlier Group A match Tanzania’s Young Africans SC picked their first point in the Group stage after a 1-1 draw away to TP Mazembe in Kinsasha.
Substitute Cheick Fofana gave TP Mazembe the lead after 41 minutes, but Zimbabwean International Prince Dube leveled matters in the dying minutes of the game.
While Al Hilal have now collected 9 points, MC Alger are second with 4 points. TP Mazembe are in third place with 2 points, while Young Africans SC only have 1 point and are bottom of the log.
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