Nairobi Star (Nairobi)
Muigai Kiguru
22 June 2011
Kenyan Premier League champions Ulinzi Stars open their Cecafa Kagame Cup campaign against St. George’s of Ethiopia on Monday at Morogoro Stadium in Tanzania.
The team is pooled in Group “C” against defending champions APR of Rwanda, St. George and Ports of Djbouti in the tournament which kicks off this weekend.
The group will be based in Morogoro but will move to Dar in the quarters. Ulinzi will miss the opening ceremony on Saturday since they are scheduled to play Western Stima in the Sh1 million worth KPL Top 8 tournament final on the same day.
The team will also have to skip several KPL matches since they are headed for Rio De Janeiro, Brazil for the 5th World Military games after the conclusion of the Dar tournament on July 9,
According to the fixtures released yesterday by Cecafa secretary general Nicholas Musonye, hosts Simba will play Vital’O of Brundi in the opening match in Dar-es-Salaam on Saturday.
The tournament has received a US$150,000 (Sh13.6m) from El Merreikh Group, who were set to host the event before it was moved to Tanzania due to ‘unavoidable circumstances.’
The group came out to sponsor all the teams in their travel to Dar-es-Salaam in a show their support for the tournament even after failing to host it as earlier expected,” said Musonye.
He said SuperSport will air the matches from the quarter-final stage. “We are also in the process of finalising a five-year deal with Tanzania Breweries Limited which will see them sponsor our activities during that period,” added Musonye. “This will also see the Senior Challenge Cup go back to Tanzania in November as per the requirements from the sponsors in the deal that is set for signing this Friday.”
Twelve teams will battle it our in Kagame Cup, that has been divided in three groups. “This year, we will not have guest teams since it will mean a squeeze of budget for us,” observed Musonye. Liberty of Ghana and Al Ahly had requested and confirmed their participation before their efforts were turned down at the last minute. Eritrea will also sit out of the competition since air travel from the Horn of Africa state has been hampered by the ashes emanating from volcanic explosion experienced last week.
Group A
Simba (Tanzania)
Vitalo (Burundi)
Enticelles (Rwanda)
Ocean Boys (Zanzibar)
Group B
Yanga (Tanzania)
El Merreikh (Sudan)
Bunawaya (Uganda)
Elman FC (Somalia)
Group C
APR (Rwanda)
St. George (Ethiopia)
Ulinzi (Kenya)
Ports (Djibouti).
AllAfrica – All the Time
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