The CECAFA Nile Basin Cup Winners Cup tournament will kick off
on the 22nd of May with Victoria University taking on Malakia
according to the released fixtures.
CECAFA said that the sole Cecafa nation missing from the
competition will be Eritrea who did not confirm an entry. Eritrea did not even show
up at the recently conducted FIFA Communications workshop held in Dar Es salaam.
The top profile teams (because of their past proud history)
include the guests Arab Contractors and El Masry of Egypt, Sudan’s giant El
Merreikh of Khartoum and the recently improved Al Ahly of Shandy City.
From Tanzania Mainland will be Mbeya City FC, a team that has
recently challenged the big three clubs of Dar es Salaam-Azam, Young Africans
and Simba.
Somalia will be represented in the competition by Elman FC who
finished 2nd place in the last Nation Link Telecom Championship, while Banadir Sports Club who are the Somali league title winners will
go to Rwanda for the CECAFA Kagame club cup to be held in Kigali in August this
year.
Elman FC will play their first match against AFC Leopards of Kenya on Friday 23rd of May as shown in the fixtures.
"This
tournament is intended to expand club participation in our region which previously
restricted to the league winners in the CECAFA Kagame club cup” CECAFA secretary
General Nicholas Musonye said adding that the inauguration of this new
competition will give more chances to clubs in the region.
The groups as below:
Group ‘A’: 1. El Merreikh[Sudan] 2. SC Victoria University[Uganda] 3. Malakia[South Sudan] 4. Polisi[Zanzibar]
Group ‘B’: 1. El Merreikh Al Fasher[Sudan] 2. Mbeya City[Tanzania Mainland] 3.Elman[Somalia] 4. AFC Leopards[Kenya]
Group ‘C’: 1. Al AhliShandi[Sudan] 2. Al Masry[Egypt] 3. Defence[Ethiopia] 4. Dikhil[Djibouti]
Group ‘D’: 1. Hey Al Arab[Sudan] 2. Arab Contractors[Egypt] 3.Flambeaude l’Est[Burundi] 4. Etincelles[Rwanda]
·Match Venues: Khartoum, Shandy and the Red Sea-side city of Port Sudan.
CECAFA Media Committee Office