Musonye has pointed out the teams withdrawing from the tournament will be replaced by superior clubs
Cecafa General Secretary Nicholas Musonye has claimed there are better replacements for teams that opted to withdraw from the competition.
DC Motema Pembe from DR Congo is the latest team to withdraw from the region’s oldest competition and they were replaced by another club from the country; AS Maniema Union who will now fill the void in Group D.
Simba SC and Yanga SC of Tanzania were the first two clubs to withdraw claiming participation in Cecafa will affect their pre-season training programmes.
“So any team that feels like pulling out again, we have got far better replacements. We have no shortage of clubs to compete here and for your information three weeks ago, the Nigerian club Enyimba FC wanted to come and four clubs from Kenya also enquired whether they could be added but I said ‘No’. South Sudan clubs are asking why we gave them just a slot I told them the house is full for now,” Musonye told reporters.
“Kagame Cup is an appetising competition and we will do all it would take to organise a better competition. We are going to have 16 teams and the groups remain as they were before.”
Musonye added the tournament will act as a better place for the participants to prepare for the upcoming Caf Champions League and Confederation Cup.
“The competition will be very exciting I believe. This is the best platform for our clubs (Cecafa participating-teams) to prepare for Caf competitions that will start soon,” he added.
He further revealed all the teams have arrived except for two clubs.
“We expect Gor Mahia and TP Mazembe to arrive tonight (July 5) but all the other teams are here. We have made a slight change to the fixtures after Motema Pembe withdrew but we have had a better replacement from DR Congo, though, in AS Moniema,” Musonye concluded.
The competition will start on July 6 and end on July 21.
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