CECAFA heads set for crunch August meetings

The Council of East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA) will meet in August to resolve the the stalemate that has stalled the region’s football activities for close to three years.

Federation heads held a separate meeting on Thursday in Rabat where they were attending the CAF symposium as they meditated the return of the Senior Challenge, Cecafa Kagame Cup and Under-17 tournaments.

Zanzibar Football Federation (ZFF) president Ravia Idarous told Citizen Digital at the Moroccan capital that Kenya and Sudan will host the first two meetings set for next month with constitutional review listed in their agenda.

“We have agreed to hold meetings that after this Extraordinary Congress mainly to revive our competitions, amend constitution and format our leagues uniformly.

“A lot of changes are happening in football globally and CECAFA cannot be left behind, if we are to make any progress,” Idarous, who is head of the youngest CAF stated.

The meeting, was attended by all member FA heads apart from Tanzania’s Jamal Malinzi who has been held over corruption allegations, and Uganda’s Eng. Moses Magogo who was at the time attending an active session with CAF Executive Committee members.

CAF has instituted zonal football championships for age-group teams, calling all associations to strengthen their zones to facilitate them.

The winners of these zonal showpieces, according to yesterday’s decision by the Exco, will challenge for continental glory.

“We may be in a fix if do not put our house in order as fast as possible as a zone. This is a serious development concerning youth football and we have to reorganise ourselves for it,” he declared.

He however called upon the embattled Secretary General Nicholas Musonye to rise up and work for CECAFA.

“Musonye is not CECAFA, he is an employee whose role is very important. Let him get the activities running, there is nothing personal against him,” the ZFF boss offered.

Musonye conspicuously missed an initial meeting held in Uganda.

He struggled in describing the his zone’s muted activities of his zone during the CAF Ordinary General Congress held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia earlier this year.

“We will have to agree, if we follow the major European leagues  which starts in August to end in May or the Asian one of January to November.

“This will ensure our clubs are available for common tournaments with full squads, unlike now when some declined to honor them citing other commitments,” Idarous said.

Uganda won the last Senior Challenge tournament staged in Ethiopia the year 2015. It remains unclear whether the competition will be held this year.

-Jacob Icia is reporting from Rabat, Morocco.