Failure by several regional clubs to progress to the next stage of neither the Champions League nor the Confederations Cup is a big disappointment to the region, Nicholas Musonye has said. In a telephone interview with Times Sport yesterday from the Kenyan capital Nairobi, the Cecafa Secretary General expressed his disappointment for a bulk of clubs in the region to bow out of the two African championships this year. Rwanda’s APR Fc, Tusker (Kenya), Al Tahrir (Eritrea), Awassa City (Ethiopia), URA (Uganda) and Simba (Tanzania) all failed the test in the more lucrative MTN Africa Champions League. While similar fate befell clubs like Rayon Sport (Rwanda), Yanga (Tanzania), Harar Beer (Ethiopia) and Express (Uganda) in the Confederation Cup. However, Cecafa’s flag will still flying high at the next stage of the two competitions thanks to two teams from the same country, Al Hilal and El Merreikh (Sudan). Al Hilal qualified to the last 16 of the African Champions League where they will face Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa while El Merreikh next meets face Zimbabwe’s Highlanders in the third round of the Confederation Cup We need to work extensively in uplifting the football standards in the region and this will never be reached if we (clubs in the region) continue with such poor performances in continental competitions. Early preparations must be emphasized to enable our clubs reach the finals stages of African tournaments, Musonye stated. For years, most of clubs from this region have failed to get past the preliminary rounds of Africa’s top championships. Such disappointments have also spilled over to the national teams. Sudan was the only country from the Cecafa region that qualified for the 2008 Nations Cup held in Ghana, two years before in Egypt, no team made it while fours back in Tunisia, only Rwanda hoisted the regional flag.Ends
