By Peter Ochieng
The 2024 edition of the CECAFA Senior Challenge Cup has been cancelled.
The competition, touted the oldest in Africa, brings together teams from the Central and East African region, and has not been staged since 2019, when Uganda were crowned champions.
It was expected that the tournament would make a return this year, but that will not be the case any more.
The Council for East and Central Africa Football Association (CECAFA) has announced the cancellation of the 2024 Senior Challenge Cup, so as to allow teams ample time to prepare adequately for the Kagame Cup, which is a club tournament.
CECAFA Executive Director John Auka Gacheo announced that Tanzania and Zanzibar will host the Kagame Cup, from July 6, 2024 to July 22, 2024 .
“Due to the busy CAF calendar, the competition has been rescheduled so that it kicks off earlier to allow a few days of rest before the start of the CAF Club competitions,” said Gacheo. The competition was initially planned to take place between July 20, 2024 and August 4, 2024.
This year’s edition will include three teams from outside the CECAFA region, namely, TP Mazembe of the DRC, Nyasa Big Bullets of Malawi and Zambia’s Red Arrows FC.
“Inviting top sides from Congo, Malawi and Zambia would spice up this competition and give our teams a real test ahead of the continental competitions,” added the Executive Director.
Burundi’s Vital’O, APR FC from Rwanda, Sudanese giants EL Merreikh, AL Hilal and Hai El Wadi are some of the teams expected to take part.
Others are Young Africans FC, Simba SC, Azam FC, Coastal Union FC and JKU SC from Tanzania and Zanzibar.
Gor Mahia will represent Kenya while Uganda will be represented by SC Villa. El Merreikh FC Bentiu will represent South Sudan.
The last time Gor won the tournament was in 1985 when they beat AFC Leopards 2-0 in an all Kenyan final in Khartoum, Sudan.