Amavubi Stars and APR winger Haruna Niyonzima is ready to help his club retain this year’s Cecafa/Kagame club championship scheduled for July 12-26 in Dar es Salaam.
Speaking to Times Sport, Haruna said that he has never lifted the Kagame Cup and wants to add this year’s title to his profile.

He however, admits that extra hard work, concentration, determination and sacrifice are the major factors which will enable him as well fellow team mates maintain their hopes of defending the title which was won on home soil last year.

APR with a new youth studded side must leave no stone unturned in their quest of defending the title.
Players who include; Aime Ndizeye, Elias Ntaganda, Jean Claude Ndoli, Kabange Twite, Mbuyu Twite and Aloua Gaseruka are the only surviving players who helped the military side win last year’s Kagame Cup.

The new side made up of Haruna, Jean Baptista Mugiraneza, Elias Uzamukunda, Hegman Ngoma to mention but have hard task of defending the title on Tanzanian soil.
Meanwhile, the country’s soccer giants, APR and Rayon are among eight teams that have confirmed to take part in the Cecafa Club Championship (Kagame Cup).

APR,, who are the record nine-time winners are the Rwanda league Champions, while Rayon Sport finished second in the last seasons’ league.

Cecafa Secretariat has so far confirmed the participation of eight clubs in this year’s championship. Other teams which have confirmed their participation are Simba and Yanga of Tanzania, Tusker (Kenya), STI (Djibouti), Vital’O (Burundi) and Miembeni (Zanzibar).

However, the Cecafa body is still waiting for from Uganda, Eritrea, Somalia and Ethiopia for the July tournament.

Meanwhile, member countries have been informed that the tournament is open to champions of 2007. According to Cecafa secretary General, Nicholas Musonye, Rwanda President Paul Kagame has offered prize money to the tune of $60,000. The winners get $30,000, runners-up walk away with $20,000 while the third-placed club receives $10,000.

Despite Kagame’s annual package, Cecafa will soon unveil another potential sponsor.
The two-week event was shifted from Sudan to Tanzania because the former pulled out of hosting the event due to reasons that are yet to be known.
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