Kenya have pulled out of the Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA) U15 Championship that is scheduled to take place from 4-16 November in Njeru, Uganda.
According to the information posted by CECAFA Executive Director Auka Gecheo who confirmed the development ahead of the tourney set to kick off on Saturday.“Kenya have also notified CECAFA that they will not be able to send a team for the Championship,” a statement from Gecheo confirmed in a statement released by CECAFA.
In the draw conducted by Gecheo on Tuesday, the hosts Uganda have been placed in Group A alongside Ethiopia, Djibouti and South Sudan with Ethiopia facing South Sudan in the opening match of the CECAFA U-15 Championship on November 4.
The hosts and defending champions will also take to the field at the FUFA Technical Centre, Njeru in the second match of the day on November 4th.Group B will see Tanzania, Zanzibar, Somalia and Rwanda battle against each other.
Tanzania will open their Group B campaign with a match against Somalia on November 5th, while Zanzibar take on Rwanda in the second match on the same day.
After the draw draw, CECAFA Executive Director Auka Gecho said
“We expect to have a very competitive tournament and we are using the competition to prepare our youngsters ahead of the AFCON U-17 Zonal qualifiers next year,” .
Apart from Kenya, other Member Associations who will not take part in the tournament include Sudan, Burundi and Eritrea who are enable to register their teams.
The last CECAFA U-15 Championship was held in Asmara, Eritrea in 2019 where Uganda defeated Kenya in the final.Kenya is however expected to host the AFCON Under-15 [Pan-African Schools Football] and the Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA) Under-18 Championship later this month.
