Samia, Museveni pour Sh 765 million into sponsorship of Cecafa Cups

Dar es Salaam. President Samia Suluhu Hassan and Uganda’s President, Yoweri Museveni, have each poured $300,000 (Sh765 million) into the sponsorships of two tournaments organized by the Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations (Cecafa).

As President Samia will be the main sponsor of the Senior Women's Challenge Cup, President Museveni will sponsor the Men’s Senior Challenge Cup scheduled to take place in Zanzibar.

Cecafa president Wallace Karia said the move is highly appreciated within Cecafa due to the fact that it will increase the number of competitions within the Cecafa Zone.

Karia, who is also the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) boss, said that earlier President Samia aimed at sponsoring the CAF Women’s Champions League, but the move was reversed due to various reasons.

He said the Africa Women's Club Championships are under TotalEnergies and, due to market-wise considerations, they opted to direct the sponsorship deal to the Cecafa Women's Senior Challenge Cup.

According to Karia, the details of the competition will be provided later, and Cecafa feels proud for the support.

Meanwhile, Karia said Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni will be the main sponsor of the Men’s Senior Challenge Cup, which is set to return after a five-year hiatus, with Zanzibar being the hosts of this year’s edition, whose dates are yet to be revealed.

The tournament was cancelled for the last five editions due to financial challenges. Karia said Cecafa is moving quickly to secure sponsors for the 2024 tournament, which includes a request to President Museveni to sponsor the winners’ prize, potentially rebranding the tournament in his honour. The Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup last took place in 2019 in Uganda.

Foreign Players in the Mainland Premier League

 Karia said the participation of the best foreign players in the Mainland Tanzania league has contributed significantly to the success of the national football team, Taifa Stars.

Since taking over the TFF post in 2017, Taifa Stars have managed to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) twice: in 2019, for the edition held in Cairo, Egypt, and the recent one held in Ivory Coast. Apart from Afcon, Stars also qualified for the African Nations Championship (CHAN) finals held in Cameroon in 2021.

He said Tanzania are among football powerhouses in East and Central Africa, believing it will attain the highest standard in the near future.

“Clubs have managed to recruit the best foreign players like Pacome Zouzoua. These players have managed to compete against ours and hence building competition among themselves. This has helped us to have the best players in the national team,” said Karia. He said they have allowed clubs in the Mainland Premier League to register many players (12) purposefully to build competition against local players and secure positions as the first-choice players in their respective clubs.

TFF Strategic Plans

Karia said TFF’s mission and vision are to elevate the country's football to the maximum development. He said their main focus is good governance while focusing on football development in general.

“We still have strategic plans in football development in the country. We have achieved a high percentage, but we are yet to complete all our first eleven (11) under my leadership. We still have time to implement all,” said Karia.