Tanzania: El Merreikh, Elman Due in Dar

The Citizen (Dar es Salaam)

Majuto Omary

23 June 2011

Two more foreign teams were expected to jet in last night for this year’s East and Central Africa club championship opening tomorrow at the National Stadium and Morogoro’s Jamhuri venue.The teams are Sudan’s El Merreikh and Elman of Somalia, according to the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) information officer, Boniface Wambura.

“Vital’O of Burundi were the first foreign team to arrive in the country for the 2011 Cecafa Club Championship. They flew into country yesterday. El Merreikh of Sudan and Somalia’s Elman are expected to land tonight (last night),” Wambura said.

Zanzibar giants Ocean View were also expected in Dar es Salaam last night for the tournament also known as Kagame Cup.Mainland giants Simba launch their campaign tomorrow against Vital’O in a Group A match at the National Stadium.

Their arch-rivals Young Africans will be watching from the stands until Sunday when they take on El Merreikh in another mouth-watering clash at the same venue.Meanwhile, Cecafa has named referees who will handle matches during the championship, which has attracted teams from all the member nations.

They are: Israel Mujuni Nkongo (Tanzania Mainland), Ibada Kombo (Zanzibar), Gebremichael Lulesghed (Eritrea) and Dilicho Sherefa (Ethiopia).Others are: Sylvester Kirwa (Kenya), Wiish Yabarow (Somalia), Hussein El Fadil (Sudan) and Ronnie Kalema of Uganda.

The assistant referees are: Samwel Mpenzu (Tanzania Mainland), Charles Nizigiyimana (Burundi), Egue Yassen Hassan (Djibouti) and Mussie Kinde (Ethiopia).Also in the list are: Brasan Mamati (Kenya), Simba Honore (Rwanda), Ahmed Waleed (Sudan) and Mark Ssonko from Uganda.

The referees will attend physical-fitness training at the National Stadium today, according to Wambura.

The regional soccer body has also announced entrance fees for the matches, including the opening encounter between Simba and Vital’O. Entrance charges for matches to be held at the National Stadium are: Sh15,000 and Sh10,000 for the VIP A and VIP B seats, respectively.

Soccer fans wishing to cheer their teams from the VIP C and Orange seats will have to pay Sh7,000 and Sh5,000, respectively, while Sh3,000 is for the blue seats. Entrance fee for the green seats is Sh2,000. During the matches involving Young Africans and Simba the lowest entrance fee will be Sh1,000.

At Morogoro’s Jamhuri Stadium, entrance fees are Sh5,000 and Sh1,000 for the main stand and popular stands, respectively.

AllAfrica – All the Time