It’s all systems go for the inaugural CECAFA women’s clubs event
By Gibo Zachary, August 26, 2021
After two postponements, the much-awaited inaugural Council of East and Central Africa Football Association (CECAFA) Club Championships that will double up as Confederation of African Football (CAF) Women Champions League qualifiers finally kick off on Saturday at Nyayo Stadium.
The Regional Football body had initially planned to have the games played in July but they were pushed to August 7, a date that was later slated for August 28 to September 9.
Host Football Kenya Federation (FKF) says everything is set and it is now all systems go as teams start to arrive for the regional bonanza.
Joint Stars of South Sudan were the first team to arrive on Tuesday evening with a contingent of 28 delegates as F.A.D FC of Djibouti (26 delegates), Simba Queens FC of Tanzania (36 delegates), and homegrown girls, Vihiga Queens FC (37 delegates) arrived yesterday afternoon.
“We’re ready and confident to face any team that comes our way.
We’re not in Kenya as a club, we’re representing South Sudan and we want to win and make the whole nation happy,” Yei Joint Stars FC coach Soni Ariet said on arriving in Kenya on Tuesday.
Lady Doves FC of Uganda (36 delegates) and P.V.P FC of Burundi (28 delegates) are expected to arrive today with New Generations FC of Zanzibar the last team scheduled to arrive tomorrow at 2 am via a bus carrying 29 delegates.
After the withdrawal of Scandinavian WFC from Rwanda, a total of eight teams from eight countries are taking part in the championship with the eventual winner/Champion of the regional qualifiers earning the honours to represent CECAFA at the inaugural CAF Women’s Champions League that will be hosted in Cairo, Egypt later this year.