CECAFA Secretary General Nicholas Musonye has heaped praise on the Federation of Uganda Football Associations (FUFA) for taking a bold stand by offering to host two regional competitions concurrently.
The CECAFA Senior Challenge Cup 2019 kicks off tomorrow whereas the first ever CECAFA U17 Girls championship rolls off on Monday-next week.
While addressing the media in the pre-tournament press conference on Friday at FUFA House in Mengo, Musonye said that he is so pleased with Uganda for taking such a risk but had no concerns whatsoever for he is sure FUFA will pull it off and surprise the world.
‘Never before has any country taken this kind of risk to host two (2) competitions simultaneously as this means hosting over 500 people and not many countries can manage this. That is why I want to thank and praise Uganda for having taken this initiative despite the limits. I am so sure we are going to pull it off’ Musonye affirmed.
He went ahead to thank Government of Uganda for providing a conducive environment that has enabled sports to thrive.
The FUFA Vice President Mr. Darius Mugoye who is also the chairman of the Local Organising Committee Darius Mugoye emphasised FUFA’s readiness to host the two competitions as he welcomed the senior men’s teams that are already in the country with only Kenya arriving later in the day (3pm on Friday).
‘I want to welcome Mr. Musonye and the entire group of CECAFA in Uganda. FUFA is always privileged whenever it is given the opportunity to host our brothers and sisters from the region. We last hosted the CECAFA U20 championship and from the reports and comments it was a successful tournament. I want to assure you that we have the same energies to pull off these two tournaments as well because we have the potential’ noted Mugoye.
CECAFA Head of communications Rogers Mulindwa reiterated Musonye’s words and thanked the Government of Uganda for the peaceful environment that has seen the country host a number of sporting events concurrently. He also appealed to the fans to come in large numbers to watch and support the games.
‘This championship is not about promoting Uganda as a country alone but the entire CECAFA region. I want to encourage Ugandans to come out in large numbers. Let us fill the stadiums and cheer on our brothers as we enjoy the beautiful game.
CECAFA General Assembly slated for December 18th December 2019 in Kampala
In the same press conference Musonye mentioned that the CECAFA Federation Presidents will converge in Uganda for the Elective General Assembly that will deliberate on matters aimed at transforming the game in the region.
FULL STATEMENTS BY:
- CECAFA SECRETARY GENERAL
- CHAIRMAN LOCAL ORGANISING COMMITTEE
- CECAFA HEAD OF MEDIA AHEAD OF THE CECAFA SENIOR CHALLENGE CUP AND CECAFA U17 WOMEN TOURNAMENTS IN UGANDA (7TH-19TH DECEMBER 2019)
The trio addressed the Members of the Media on Friday 6th December 2019 at FUFA House, Mengo
CECAFA Secretary General Mr. Nicholas Musonye
It is a big privilege to be back in Kampala. My first time addressing a press conference was way back in 2000 when CECAFA undertook a big transformation.
I want to appreciate FUFA for taking a serious risk and host two tournaments- CECAFA women U17 and the CECAFA Senior Challenge cup – concurrently. This is the first country in the region to host two tournaments and doing so with minimal resources.
On February 9, 2019, we held a meeting in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) where we all agreed that every Federation has to pay 20,000 US Dollars to take part in CECAFA senior challenge cup. The fee was meant to support the organisation of the tournament. The countries failed to comply have thus withdrawn from the tournament as they did not honour the commitment. The meeting was attended by all Federation heads.
Paying 20,000 US Dollars has not been the case in previous tournaments but the the economy has changed over the years.
On the issue of changes in venues; we all know that the tournament will be relayed live on Azam TV and that is why we had to move from Jinja back to Kampala.
Lugogo (The StarTimes Stadium) was booked but my brothers (FUFA) have managed to negotiate and I can ensure you that Lugogo is now free for the tournament.
Further on the venues, unlike Namboole, Lugogo can accommodate few people and we earlier wanted to subsidise transport costs for people going at Namboole.
We shall have the CECAFA General Assembly on 18th December 2019 where all Federation Presidents will attend. We expect more transformations for the regional body.
We thank the media for the good job done so far and encourage you to drive the masses to the stadiums by giving them positive reporting about the two tournaments.
Local Organising Committee Chairman/FUFA Vice President Mr. Darius Mugoye
We recently hosted the CECAFA U20 successfully in Gulu and Jinja and we have the potential to host two tournaments at ago.
We will host the main tournament at Lugogo and the Women U17in Jinja where it will be free of charge for the fans to watch the matches.
The opening game between Djibouti and Somalia at 1.30pm will be at Namboole free of charge to the fans.
The Uganda Vs Burundi at Lugogo at 4pm, fans will pay UGX 5000 and UGX30000
We ask for your kind support and I therefore welcome you once again to Uganda. FUFA commits itself to doing everything possible to host the two tournaments successfully.
CECAFA Head of Media Mr. Rogers Mulindwa
I must confess we have had issues but when the country is peaceful you will have activities going on without any hitches.
We have EALA Games, Inter-Cities competitions, FUFA Drum ongoing and now the CECAFA tournaments coming to Uganda.
We are at peace but have the problem is with facilities.
Let the media support the two tournaments.
