AFTER a long wait, Kigali has been confirmed as the venue for the 2014 edition of the Cecafa Kagame club championship scheduled for August 9 to 23.

The Confederation of East and Central Africa Football Association (Cecafa) Secretary General Nicholas Musonye confirmed the development in a news briefing held yesterday at the Rwanda Football Association (Ferwafa) headquarters at Amahoro.

 "The wait has come to an end. The tournament will take place in Kigali from August 9 to 23,” Musonye said after holding lengthy discussions with Ferwafa and the Ministry of Sports and Culture.

Musonye noted that he came two days ago to confirm that Cecafa is ready and determined to organise a good competition like it has done before in Rwanda.

"You recall the Kagame Cup was last played in Rwanda way back in 2010 and the competition was a huge success. We want to surpass that by organising a very good competition this year,” he said.

Musonye also noted that twelve countries have confirmed their participation and four teams from Angola, DR Congo and Congo Brazzaville are on standby in case they are called upon to come and participate in this competition. 

"Rwanda is ready, Cecafa is ready and all our teams are ready to come for the competition. I want to assure you that we are going to have the biggest number of entrants in this competition,” Musonye added.  

The organisers expect to host a 16-team competition, the biggest ever in the history of Cecafa.

Musonye lauded the people of Rwanda for the support they have always given Cecafa to ensure that they organise good competitions. 

"I want to thank President Paul Kagame for being a good patron who keeps his word. We have already received his commitment to this competition. That’s the leadership we are talking about. Leadership that honours with commitment. That’s why we are inspired to organise this competition in the best possible way ever,” he added. 

SuperSport to air all matches

South African Multi-national broadcaster SuperSport which signed a four-year sponsorship pact recently will air live all the Kagame Cup matches. 

The region’s biggest soccer club tournament will be hosted at Amahoro and Nyamirambo stadium and perhaps Rubavu.

Burundi’s Vital ‘O are the Cecafa Club Championship defending champions after they defeated APR 2-0 in the final last year in Darfur, Sudan.

Defending league champions Rayon Sports, who last won the title in 1998, will represent Rwanda but the country has a possibility of fielding two clubs.

Besides Rayon Sports, current champions APR, Police and AS Kigali are the other teams which might be picked for the tournament. APR is the only Rwandan side to have won the competition three times in 2004, 2007 and 2010.

President Paul Kagame has sponsored the regional club championship to a tune of US$60,000 annually since 2002.