Democratic Republic of Congo league champions, Tout Puissant Mazembe have expressed interest in taking part in this year’s Cecafa Club Championships, which will be hosted by Uganda in June/July.

Cecafa General Secretary Nicholas Musonye confirmed this in Nairobi Wednesday saying the Congolese were inspired by the covetous status that the regional tournament has achieved over the years.

"They have made inquiries and we shall be looking at them very seriously,” said Musonye in a communiqué.

Cecafa tournaments have in recent years been graced by guest teams with Zambia having participated in the 2006 and 2008 Challenge Cup in Addis Ababa and Kampala respectively. The Addis Ababa tournament was also graced by Malawi.

Sudan are keen on sending two of their giant teams El Merreikh and El Hilal in the tournament while Ethiopia who have just finished serving a Fifa ban have confirmed they will be represented by perennial contestants St George.

"We are likely to give El Hilal a chance considering that the participation of Eritrean and Djibouti teams is in doubt,” Musonye added.

Kenya will be represented by defending champions Tusker and the country’s champions Mathare United while the hosts will have Kampala City Council and Sports Club Villa.

Other teams expected are Simba Sports Club from Tanzania mainland, Miembeni from Zanzibar, Inter Club from Burundi and Atraco from Rwanda.

Tusker was the winner of last year’s tournament after beating URA 2-1 in the final played at the National Stadium in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

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