RWANDA’S Fifa referee Issa Kagabo has been summoned to officiate at the 32nd Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup due for December 31-January 13 in Kampala, Uganda. In a letter addressed to all member associations by Cecafa Secretary General Nicholas Musonye, Kagabo is among six centre referees named to officiate at this year’s regional competition. Other referees named include; Ali Farah (Djibouti), Alfred Ndinya (Kenya), Emmanuel Eyob (Eritrea), Hassan Abdulkadir (Somalia) and Ali Kalyango (Uganda). Musonye named the assistant referees as Charles Nimpangariste (Burundi), John Ngururi (Kenya), Khalifa Abdelaaziz (Sudan), Charles Ndagala (Tanzania), Hussein Bugembe (Uganda) and Haji Makame (Zanzibar). According to Musonye, the named referees are expected to undergo the medical and cooper tests from December 29-30 in Kampala to assess their fitness before officiating this year’s regional tournament. Rwanda’s Amavubi Stars which opens its Cecafa title quest against arch-rivals Uganda Cranes on the New Year’s Day at Namboole stadium. Amavubi Stars, who knocked out Uganda Cranes at the semi-final stage last year, were drawn in the group A alongside Tanzania, Zanzibar and perennial whipping boys Somalia. The tournament gets underway with a group B game between Eritrea and Djibouti on December 31 at Bugembe Stadium, Jinja. This group that also has defending champions Sudan, Kenya and Burundi will be based outside the capital. Two groups of five teams will play preliminaries and the top two will automatically advance to the last four. Seven of the total 24 matches will be shown live by GTV, starting with the Uganda-Rwanda game. The Amavubi Stars under former coach Josip Kuze reached the final last year in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania but lost to Sudan 4-2 on penalties after full time had ended in a fascinating 2-2 draw. Ends
