Tanzania/Rwanda: Yanga Set for Kagame Cup Return

Tanzania Daily News (Dar es Salaam)

7 June 2011

MAINLAND premier soccer league champions, Yanga, have been allowed to participate in this year’s East and Central Africa Club Championship, popularly known as Kagame Cup, which is scheduled to start in Dar es Salaam at the end of this month.

Reports form impeccable sources revealed on Tuesday that the Council of East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA) has approved the team’s participation in the event.

CECAFA banned Yanga for three years, apart from imposing US dollars 35, 000 fine on the team, after the latter failed to turn up for the third place play off against archrivals, Simba, in the regional tournament played in Dar es Salaam in 2008.

The ban covered the time that Yanga could have qualified for the tournament, in which the team has already missed out on the 2009 tournament held in Khartoum, Sudan, and the last year’s event played in Kigali, Rwanda.

Simba are one of the hosts’ representatives in this year’s tournament on grounds that they were the Mainland Premier League champions in the 2009/2010 season.

Yanga, on their part, will participate in the event on the basis of finishing second during the same season as, according to CECAFA regulations, the hosts usually field two teams in the Kagame Cup.

“Everything has already been finalized and CECAFA is expected to officially announce Yanga’s participation in the tournament within a week”, said one of the sources.

“CECAFA basically wanted Yanga to pay the fine and apologize the council has already received formal apology and the fine will be paid soon”, he added.

He hinted that the tournament’s kick off, which was penned for June 21, has been pushed back to four days later.

When contacted for comments, Yanga’s information officer, Louis Sendeu, said he had not received the news but was optimistic that the club will be allowed to compete in the tournament.

“Out talks with CECAFA has reached a promising stage, we requested the body to reduce the fine and I have not received any development on the matter, but hopefully everything will be fine”, said Sendeu.

Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) secretary general, Angetile Osiah, on his part, said he too has not received the news and was not aware of a meeting that lifted Yanga’s ban.

Efforts to contact CECAFA secretary general, Nicholaus Musonye, for clarification on the issue proved futile.

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