By Bonface Osano,
Rwanda and Tanzania have been chosen as hosts of the 2015 editions of Council for East and Central Africa Football Association CECAFA, Senior Challenge and Kagame Cup respectively.
The announcements by the secretary general Nicholas Musonye on Friday came as a sigh of relief considering the 2014 edition of the senior challenge cup did not take place for lack of hosts as Ethiopia pulled out at the last minute. Kenya hosted the last edition in 2013 going on to win it by beating Sudan 2-0 thanks to El Merreikh striker Allan Wanga brace.
The oldest tournament in Africa which takes place annually in the month of November to December has lately been having problems securing sponsorships, probably its biggest challenge and it will remain to be seen if this edition will overcome such for a successful hosting.
This will be the 38th edition of the tournament, the first edition took place back in the year 1926 under the name Gossage Cup between Kenya and Uganda, the tournament then went through a series transformation over the years to the present CECAFA senior challenge Cup. Uganda remains the most successful country with 13 titles followed by Kenya which has 5 titles and Ethiopia 4 titles.
The parent CECAFA members include; Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Zanzibar, Sudan, Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia, Rwanda and Burundi, however each year guest countries are invited to also take part.
CECAFA Kagame Cup is an annual club tournament played by league champions from the CECAFA member countries; Rwanda President Paul Kagame is the main sponsor since 2002.
El Merreikh of Sudan are the defending champions, they beat APR FC of Rwanda 1-0 via Kenyan international Allan Wanga goal to win their third title. Simba SC and Young Africans of Tanzania have won the most number of titles, with the former winning it 6 times and the latter 5 times. The show piece is expected to kick off in August.
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