Kenya paired with hosts Burundi in Cecafa U-17 tourney
Muyinga Stadium in Burundi will be one of the venues for this year's Council of East and Central Africa Football Associations (Cecafa) Under-17 championship slated for April 14 to 28, 2018 PHOTO | CECAFA |
What you need to know:
- They open their campaign against the hosts at Muyinga Stadium on April 14 in the competition's opener in Muyinga Province.
- They next play Ethiopia at Gitega Stadium on April 17, before rounding up the group stage matches against Somalia on April 20 at Muyinga Stadium.
- Group B has Uganda, Tanzania, Sudan and Zanzibar.
Kenya has drawn hosts Burundi in the upcoming Council of East and Central Africa Football Associations (Cecafa) Under-17 championship slated for April 14 to 28.
According the draws released on Wednesday by the regional football body, the junior Harambee Stars are in Group A and will also face Somalia and Ethiopia.
They open their campaign against the hosts at Muyinga Stadium on April 14 in the competition's opener in Muyinga Province.
They next play Ethiopia at Gitega Stadium on April 17, before rounding up their group stage matches against Somalia on April 20 at Muyinga Stadium.
Group B has defending Champions Uganda, Tanzania, Sudan and Zanzibar.
Ngozi Stadium in Burundi will be one of the venues for this year's Council of East and Central Africa Football Associations (Cecafa) Under-17 championship slated for April 14 to 28, 2018 PHOTO | CECAFA
The top two teams from each pool will advance to the semi-finals.
The third-place playoff match will be played on April 27 before the finals a day later, with both matches scheduled for Ngozi Stadium, home to the country’s president Pierre Nkurunziza.
Cecafa has confirmed participation of eight members namely Burundi, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Zanzibar, Sudan and Somalia in the competition sponsored by world football governing body, Fifa, to a tune of Sh50 million.
“We take this opportunity to thank Fifa for financing the competition and three other championships slated for this year namely the Cecafa Women's Challenge Cup in Rwanda from May 12-20, Cecafa Beach soccer tournament in Uganda from May 26 to June 3 and Cecafa U-20 Challenge Cup in September,” read a statement from the regional body.
Ngozi Hotel in Burundi will host some of the teams taking part in this year's Council of East and Central Africa Football Associations (Cecafa) Under-17 championship slated for April 14 to 28, 2018 PHOTO | CECAFA |
The statement further thanked the Burundi government for putting in place three facilities and internal support to ensure that the U-17 tourney is a success.
Burundi is hosting the championship for the second time. They first hosted the event in 2007 and went on to win it The second edition was held in Kenya in 2009.
Rwanda pulled out of the competition citing unpreparedness.
“We are developing our U-17 team and at the moment it’s not ready to take part in the regional tournament,” Federation of Rwanda Football Association (FERWAFA) media Chief Bonnie Mugabe confirmed to Nation Sport on Wednesday.
