Ferwafa raps Cecafa on GTV info

RWANDA’S football governing body, Ferwafa is furious with Cecafa for not providing information to member states about the data needed by GTV to effectively start promoting the region’s flagship soccer competition, the Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup. Ferwafa Chief Executive Officer Jules Kalisa told Times Sport yesterday that the local body has not received any information from Cecafa demanding for anything from Rwanda which is among the member states. “We have not received any information from Cecafa requesting for any requirements and I think we should not be blamed for negligence in the preparations for this year’s event. “They (Cecafa) should stop putting blame on member countries when things on their side have not gone well, Kalisa complained. Ferwafa’s tough remarks come in response to an article published last week in Uganda’s Daily New Vision indicating that Cecafa’s General Secretary Nicholas Musonye sent an e-mail to all member federations of the Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations, informing them about the sponsors’ disappointment at the lukewarm response. According to the e-mail, Musonye said that the sponsors, who are pay-per-view television channel GTV was increasingly feeling that Cecafa is yet to understand the dynamics of corporate sponsorship. GTV had asked federations to provide the secretariat with data on a number of requirements including colours for their home and away jerseys. “GTV have repeatedly warned us that they have no time for filing reminders to Cecafa when it comes to sponsorship matters,” the letter which Ferwafa has never seen read in part according to Ugandan press. Kalisa said, “Our national team colours are available at both CAF and FIFA and even Cecafa has them and I find no reason why this issue is alarming.” Only Kenya and Zanzibar had provided information before the deadline which was due on September 12. Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia and hosts Uganda are the countries who were yet to fulfill the requirement. The annual competition is set for December 31 to January 13 in Uganda. In a related development, Rwanda’s decision to send the U-20 national squad to this year’s Challenge Cup is proving futile. According to Kalisa, Ferwafa is yet to decide on which team will head to Kampala since the tournament will climax on January 13, five days before the African youth championship kicks-off. “We risk losing our players to injuries if U-20 team represents Rwanda in the Cecafa Challenge Cup,” Kalisa said, adding that on the other hand, this was the right event to put in shape the national youth side before they compete in the African U-20 CAN finals in Kigali. Ends

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Ferwafa raps Cecafa on GTV info