AMAVUBI will know their Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup opponents this Saturday, Times Sport has learnt. The draws have been brought forward so that they don’t get in the way of the Tanzania Football Association general elections.

"We are bringing forward the draws on the advice of this year’s hosts Tanzania Mainland. The general elections will be held on October 31. The Football Association of Tanzania prefers the draws to be out of the way well before the elections,” Cecafa Secretary General Nicholas Musonye told SuperSport.com.

While confirming both Ivory Coast and Cameroon’s availability for the competition, Musonye remained uncertain about Zambia’s involvement.

"Ivory Coast were the first guest side to confirm participation. Cameroon is available after their regional Central Africa Cup event. Zambia are our regular guests and should be available after the Cosafa Cup in Angola next month,” Musonye remained optimistic.

The West African giants will field home-based players.
Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup is the region’s flagship event and will be contested over two weeks from November 27.

The contest will feature Burundi, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, Zanzibar, defending champions Uganda and hosts Tanzania Mainland.

"This year, the contest provides a significant warm up for teams that will be playing in the 2011 Africa Nations Championship (CHAN) which kicks off in Khartoum, Sudan in January.

"During the Challenge Cup, we will have Cameroon, Ivory  Coast, Rwanda, Uganda, and Sudan all gearing up for the Nations Championship,” Musonye explained.

Serengeti Breweries has bankrolled the tourney to a tune of $450,000. Rwanda last won the competition back in 1999 when Amavubi’s string side – Rwanda B thrashed Kenya 3-1 in the final.

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