East African Business Week (Kampala)
John David
30 July 2007
Nairobi — The Burundian capital Bujumbura will host the inaugural CECAFA Under-17 youth tournament scheduled for August 18 to 27.
Seven countries will participate in the youth football tournament that promises to showcase the depth of soccer talent the region has.
"We are ready for the tournament," Cecafa secretary general Mr. Nicholas Musonye told reporters in Nairobi on Thursday.
He added; "We have received sh1million (U.S.$68,000) from federation of African Football (CAF) and Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete has donated to us the trophies."
Besides being an inaugural event, the tournament has scored another first by attracting the highest number of participating countries in the history of Cecafa's inaugural tournaments.
The event is seen as the regional associations' major bold step towards the development of youth football within its member states.
The teams include hosts Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Somalia and Zanzibar.
The teams have been pooled in two groups A and B, with the opening match between Burundi and Tanzania while Somalia will clash with Rwanda in pool A.
Musonye called on Cecafa member countries to invest in youth football, saying it is the only sure way of building strong teams for the future.
"The future of African football lies in investing on sound youth soccer programmes. This is the only key to success in soccer world over,' Musonye said.
He also called on African states to take advantage of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and improve on their sports infrastructure, mainly stadia. Many of the existing structures are in poor shape, he explained.
The official also released the association's calendar of events this quarter that include the Cecafa women championships slated for Zanzibar from October 20- 28, the senior challenge cup in Tanzania from November 17 - December 1 and the Kagame Cup in Khartoum, Sudan from December 22 to January 5 2008.
Meanwhile, Musonye said plans were complete to host the first regional women's championship in Zanzibar from October 20-28.
CAF will also be involved in the organisation of the tournament after it pledged to fund it to a tune of Sh1.2 million.
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