THE COUNCIL of East and Central Africa football Association (Cecafa) has cleared Darfur and South Gordofan to host the 2013 Cecafa/Kagame Club Championships.

The tournament will run from June 18th to July 2nd.

The Cecafa Secretary General, Nicholas Musonye who is on a visit to Darfur told Times Sport in an exclusive interview yesterday that he has been inspecting the country’s facilities in order to evaluate the preparedness of the area for the upcoming event.

After visiting the Stadia [Al Fashir - Al Nuggaa], hotels, training grounds and other facilities, Musonye is optimistic Darfur is ready to host the regional tournament. 

"The facilities are impressive. Transport and hotel facilities are up to standard as well. Darfur is 90% ready,” he said. 

Originally, the venue for the June event was Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia but it was later deemed not ready to host the event.

Musonye held lengthy talks regarding the successful hosting of the tournament with Khartoum’s top leadership, Darfur’s State Governor, its Ministers and UNAMID officials. 

The Central Government has given Cecafa the green light to engage with the Governors of Darfur and Kadugli to ensure that everything runs smoothly.

"Our patron President Paul Kagame believes in peace and co-existence of all the people of East and Central Africa in general and Africa as a whole. Kagame has spent his personal fortune to anchor Cecafa for the past 12 years during which the association has grown in stature.”

"Before I visited Darfur and Gordofan, I was told that there is nothing there. But I am surprised that people lead normal lives in the two States. I was also surprised that Darfur has two big stadia while South Gordofan has one and they are constructing another multi million stadium that should be ready in early June.”

"There are also hotels in both areas and villas, some that you can not find in peaceful countries.”

When asked what motivated Cecafa to take the tournament to the two states, Musonye said that they wanted to promote football in region as well as bring the youth of different back grounds together. "You know the power of football and that is exactly what we are doing. We also want to engage our leaders to improve infrastructure across the region. You will be surprised what Kagame cup will do in the two States.” 

He added, "We want to prove the world wrong. What you hear is not what is on the ground. It is a different story altogether.”

He also cautioned the local organising committee to engage in a number of preparations so that they will be ready for the arrival of the various clubs. The league has a total of 12 members.

Torn by civil war

Observers are questioning whether it is safe to hold a major sporting event in the area. Darfur has been a conflict area for a long time, torn by a civil war that started in 2003. But change is apparent now that a peace agreement is in place to curb the violence that has characterised the area. There has been less fighting.

Cecafa has also received further encouragement from Darfur. Local officials have already expressed interest in co-hosting the football event. These are Asuman Mohammed Yusuf Kibir, the incumbent Governor of North Darfur and Ahamed Haroun, the Governor of the South Kordonfan State.

Competing teams

The tournament is set to attract League winners in the 12 member nations in the region. Tanzania’s Young Africans are the defending champions after they won the title in 2012 after beating local rivals Azam FC in the final in Dar es Salaam.

Simba (Tanzania Mainland), Zanzibar representatives, Al Merriekh and Al Hilal (Sudan), Tusker (Kenya), Express (Uganda), APR (Rwanda), Vital’O (Burundi), Ports (Djibouti), Elman (Somalia) and South Sudan representatives have already confirmed their interest. St George (Ethiopia) withdrew while Eritrea will not enter a team.

However, the regional football body confirmed that Democratic Republic of Congo side St. Eloi Lupopo and DC Motema Pembe will take part in the event as guest teams so as to spice the up the tournament.