Kenya confirm Challenge Cup participation

KENYA has officially agreed to compete in this year’s Council of East and Central Africa Football Association (Cecafa) to be held in Uganda between November 24 and December 8.The development was announced by Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Chairman Sam Nyamweya on Sunday. He said on the federation’s website www.fkf.co.ke that they reached the decision after meeting Cecafa chairman Leodgar Tenga.Initially, FKF had announced that they would skip the regional tournament and focus on the CHAN championship where Kenya is scheduled to face Burundi due to the clash of dates.Nyamweya, however, noted that they would also not change the date for the CHAN qualifiers and that Kenya would honour both matches.Kenya’s first CHAN qualifier is on December 1, just six days after the start of Cecafa and coach Henry Michel could be forced to have two teams to honour both tournaments. “We have decided to send our national team to this year’s Cecafa after strong persuasion from Cecafa chairman Leodgar Tenga, whom we met on Thursday in Dar es Salaam.” “We will also honour the CHAN qualifier against Burundi on the initial proposed dates,” said Nyamweya.The latest news will send a message that the Kenyan FA and their CECAFA counterparts are mending their relationship following months of animosity between the two associations that was spiked by the shift in hosting rights of this year’s tournament from Nairobi to Kampala.Meanwhile, the world’s newest nation, South Sudan has also confirmed their participation for the first time. “Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi and Cameroon are on standby. We shall have a full house and are all set for the draw on November 8,” Cecafa Secretary General Nicholas Musonye said this week.

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Kenya confirm Challenge Cup participation