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Zimbabwe, Zambia to Africa's Challenge Cup
News Date: 19th November 2009
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Zimbabwe and Zambia will feature in this month's Council of East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA) Senior Challenge Cup tournament in Kenya as guests.
CECAFA secretary-general, Nicholas Musonye, told a news conference in Nairobi on Tuesday that the southern African states have confirmed
participation in the two-week annual event which kicks off on Nov. 28.
They left CECAFA in the early 1990's alongside Malawi, citing frustration by confederation officials and joined the southern African soccer body, Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA).
CECAFA has 11 members, namely Burundi, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zanzibar, Somalia and Sudan. Kenya is hosting the event that brings together national teams after 17 years.
Guest sides, Zambia and Zimbabwe's participation brings to the number
of teams set for this year's event to 13. Both teams are former members of the regional soccer body.
The matches will be played in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, and Mumias in western Kenya. Musonye said the council has received 125, 000 U.S. dollars -- 93,750 dollars from the Kenyan government and 31,277 dollars from the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
"We need 1.3 million dollars to organise a successful tournament," he said. "We are talking to potential sponsors with a view to raising the
requisite amount."
Telkom Kenya, a communication company, boosted the confederation's coffers when it gave 175,675 dollars.
Earlier, Sports Minister Prof Hellen Sambili assured east African soccer lovers on the government's support, pointing out that the tournament gets government's support because it has strong management base.
"Hosting this event will be a good opportunity for Kenya to market itself ahead of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa," Musonye said.
Pay TV, Super Sports, will broadcast selected matches, including the quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals live.
Hosts Kenya, after failing to qualify for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and the 2010 African Cup of Nations in Angola, will use the event to prepare for 2010 African Nations Championships CHAN tournament and the 2012
Olympic qualifiers.
The event's draw will be conducted Wednesday at the CECAFA secretariat here.
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