Uganda has been selected to host the 2019 regional Council for East and Central African Football Associations (CECAFA) Senior Challenge Cup in December, plus other two tournaments.
The development was confirmed during the CECAFA consultative meeting held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia over the weekend.
CECAFA Senior Challenge Cup makes a return after a year without being played, Last year Kenya withdrew at the last moment from hosting the oldest tournament on the African continent. It was due to financial challenges.
“We shall be ready to host the Challenge Cup in December and this tournament will help us also prepare for the 2020 Africa Nations Championship (CHAN) if we qualify,” FUFA President Moses Magogo told wwwdispatch.ug.
The tournament was last hosted by Kenya in 2017 who went on to win it, in 2014 it was not held following Ethiopia’s withdrawal as hosts. Again, in 2016 initially Sudan, and then Kenya both withdrew from hosting it.
Uganda Cranes have won a record 14 titles the last one coming in 2015 in Ethiopia, and the defending champions Kenya have won it seven times.
Uganda will also host the U20 Women and Men Challenge Cups, other tournaments to be hosted includes the U17 Challenge Cup in Eretria, U17 Women Challenge Cup in Kenya, Senior Women Challenge Cup in Tanzania and Kagame Interclub Cup in Rwanda.
Last year CECAFA only managed to stage the U-17 Championship in Burundi and the Women’s Championship in Rwanda.
CECAFA region was also selected among the three regions to host FIFA regional offices which will be based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to cater for football development, the other two were set up in Dakar, Senegal and Johannesburg, South Africa.
