Tanzania Daily News (Dar es Salaam)
Evance Ng’ingo
21 June 2011
GIANTS Simba and Young Africans have been drawn apart in this year’s Kagame Cup that kicks off in Dar es Salaam and Morogoro on Saturday, with Yanga given a relatively tough group.
In a draw conducted on Tuesday at the National Stadium in Dar es Salaam, Simba who have won the tournament record six times have been placed in Group A, alongside Vital ‘O’ of Burundi, Ocean View of Zanzibar and new entrants Etincelles of Rwanda.
The group that is stationed in Dar es Salaam would welcome the opening match on Saturday to pit Ocean View and Etincelles, a lunch time kick off, to be followed by an encounter between Simba and Vital ‘O’ at 4pm.
Yanga who have been included in the tournament after the Council for East and Central African Football Associations (CECAFA) lifted a three year ban imposed to the Jangwani Street team, has been drawn in group B that is also stationed in Dar es Salaam.
They are up against Sudan’s giants El Merreikh, new entrants Bunamwaya FC of Uganda and Elman FC of Somalia. Yanga will open their campaigns on Sunday against the former African champions El Merreikh at the National Stadium, in what is billed to be tough match.
CECAFA recently lifted the ban after Yanga forwarded a formal apology and agreed to pay the fine, which was eventually reduced on the request of the Jangwani Street side. The fine, which was standing at 35,000 US dollars, was slashed to 20,000 US dollars.
CECAFA had locked Yanga out of regional club competitions for three years after the latter boycotted their third place play off against archrivals, Simba, in the 2008’s Kagame Cup played in Dar es Salaam, a ban that was expected to come to an end next year.
Yanga had already missed out on two Kagame Cup tournaments, the one played in Khartoum, Sudan in 2009 and the last year’s event hosted by Kigali, Rwanda. Group C, that is stationed at the Jamhuri Stadium in Morogoro has defending champions APR of Rwanda, St George (Ethiopia), Ulinzi (Kenya) and Ports of Djibouti.
And on Tuesday, CECAFA finalised with Supersport to show the matches Live from Dar es Salaam. Preparations for the event are virtually complete. CECAFA and the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) have lined up several activities to ensure that the Kagame/Castle cup drives the regional championship to another level.
CECAFA on Monday concluded a sponsorship package from Tanzania Breweries Ltd through its Castle Lager beer flagship, worth 300m/-
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