Swalley Kenyi
28 June 2009
Kampala — KCC FC will participate this year's CECAFA Club Championships without key striker Brian Umony and first choice goalkeeper Benjamin Ochan. The annual event, due to start in Khartoum tomorrow, will end on July 12.
Umony inspired KCC with goals while Ochan made crucial saves in the club's CAF Champions League and Confederation Cup matches before the Lugogo outfit dropped out of the continental events.
Their performances earned them trials with two-time South African champions SuperSport United and Bloemfontein Celtic respectively.
Umony completed a two-year deal with SuperSport United but KCC officials remained optimistic he would join the rest of the team for the championship in Sudan.
But the players' agent Mujib Kasule said yesterday that Umony's presence at the regional event is in balance.
"They (SuperSport) know that Umony has a tournament to play for KCC as negotiations continue but we'll confirm this today," Kasule said.
Ochan will missed the CECAFA championships because Bloemfontein Celtic has opted to extend his trials alongside Proline Academy player Alex Kakuba before they can make a decision to sign them.
KCC FC coach George Nsimbe insisted yesterday that the absence of Umony and Ochan would not affect his team's performance in Sudan.
"I would like to see these players turn professional and their absence will not affect our play format, we shall play our game," Nsimbe explained yesterday.
The former international will have second choice striker Tommy Okello replacing Umony while Karim Kamyuka will take over from Ochan.
KCC last won the regional tournament in 1978. Nsimbe's team are due to leave for Khartoum today. Twelve teams will compete for the title.
The teams are split in three groups-A, B and C. KCC is in Group B and will open their campaign against guest side TP Mazembe from the Democratic Republic of Congo in Wednesday's action.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2009 New Vision. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
