The Citizen (Dar es Salaam)
Suleiman Jongo
27 June 2011
Dar Es Salaam — The regional Kagame Cup tournament kicked off at the weekend with local clubs, especially giants, Simba and their traditional archrivals, Dar es Salaam Young Africans being considered favourites in this regional event.
The local clubs have in the past won honours with the competition several times, with Simba holding the title six times and Yanga three times, while Moro United and Coastal Union of Tanga ended as runners- up in different years.
Already officials of the clubs, which have been in existence for about 70 years, have expressed their winning optimism.
Despite a recent elimination from CAF confederation Cup, Simba, who lost the Mainland Vodacom premier league title to Yanga in the just ended season, are said to have been in a very good form for the event,similarly Yanga and Zanzibar’s Ocean View .
They are set to become a real force to be reckoned with at home despite Simba being forced to a barren draw by Vital’O of Burundi in Saturday’s opener . Zanzibar’s Ocean View hit Rwandan giants Etincelles 3-2 in another group A match held on Saturday.
The local clubs have spent a big sum of money for the players’ registration for the league kick off in August, but as Kagame Cup is here to stay for two weeks, they will be charging their newly recruited players for the league’s fierce battle, billing to be tough and exciting.
However, they will face a really tough task not only because they are completely out of confidence at the moment, but also since other teams are all out to win.
All things considered, a home win should never come into question.
The Council of East and Central Africa Football Associations (Cecafa) tournament sees champion clubs from ten countries taking part.
The regional governing body picked the Mainland to host the tourney after Zanzibar and Sudan declared inability or lack of preparedness to host the tourney.
However, the country’s governing body, TFF has announced that it had confirmed hosting the big event in Zone 5 of Africa, pointing out that it would need money to fulfill the pledge as some facilities were not in the required condition.
The federation’s Information Officer Boniface Wambura called upon stakeholders and sponsors to lend their support by sponsoring the event so that they can successfully manage to host the tourney.
The event is sponsored by Rwandan President Paul Kagame but the sponsorship is limited to providing trophies and awards, while the hosting federation has to make the necessary arrangements.
The competition was launched in 1974 as the Cecafa Club Championship Cup and in 2002 it acquired its present image when it became the Kagame Inter Club tournament sponsored by President Paul Kagame.
The event sees Yanga making a Cecafa Kagame Cup comeback after a three-year suspension
The club was suspended for three years after refusing to play local rivals Simba in the Kagame Cup third-place play-off at the former National Stadium in Dar es Salaam, now known as Uhuru Stadium.
The club was banned for three years and slapped with a 23,862 fine after they failed to turn up for the third place play off against archrivals Simba in the regional tournament.
Simba are one of the hosts’ representatives in this year’s tournament on grounds that they were the Premier League champions in the 2009/2010 season. Yanga, for their part, will participate in the event on the basis of finishing second during the same season , according to Cecafa regulations.
“We had finalized with Yanga for their spectacular come back”, Cecafa’s secretary general, Nicholus Musonye was quoted by media as saying recently.
“Cecafa basically wanted Yanga to pay the fine and apologise. The council has already received formal apology and the fine will be paid soon.”
Yanga’s information officer, Louis Sendeu, says that Yanga will strive for a better performance after being allowed to take part.
The tournament that sees twelve league champions from the region take part will this year not have guest teams, as has been the tradition.
“This year we will not have guest teams since it will mean a squeeze of budget for us,” said Musonye.
Liberty of Ghana and Al Ahly had requested and confirmed their participation before their efforts were turned down in 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 ash cloud emanating from volcanic eruptions experienced last week.
The twelve teams have been put into three groups for the two week championship, which ends on July 9.
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