2013 would have been a good year for Kenya to host CECAFA club cup
In 2012, Tusker, Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards, the three most succesful and storied Kenya clubs finished in the top 3 of the Kenya premier league.
The country hosting the CECAFA club cup aka Kagame cup typically enters 2 or 3 teams as Tanzania did last year. With that in mind Kenya would have been a perfect host in 2013. Nicholas Musonye, the CECAFA chairman has in the past complained that Kenyan fans are disinterested in football. However a regional tournament featuring Kenya’s 3 top would have been a crowd puller.
It would give fans from towns outside Nairobi a chance to watch top flight football. If the renovations at the stadium in Kisumu are complete, Gor Mahia would play some of their home matches there. Ingwe would play some home matches in Mumias or Bukhungu. While Tusker would play games in Nakuru where the fans have been starved of international football.
And with the 3 clubs stoking interest in these towns, it is likely that the matches involving other teams would have been well attended as well.
It was 1984 when Kenya hosted this cup at the newly constructed Nyayo stadium. Public interest was at fever pitch and all matches were well attended. Most matches including those not involving Kogalo or Ingwe were well attended. Since then, the interest of the Kenyan public in this tournament has been waning to the point where it is almost moribund. Hosting the CECAFA club cup would be a good way for Mr. Musonye and his team to revive the interest of the Kenyan public.
However as things stand now, it appears only Ethiopia and Rwanda have expressed interest in hosting the cup. The latter have already hosted the tournament numerous times within the past few years.
Let CECAFA be hosted away from Kenya so that all Kenyan squad (Harambee Stars) taking part are sure of getting their allowances and Michel can have his usual excuse of having Team A left with him then life continues…
Sisi kama Sirikal we are more interested in GM as a club than the CECAFA. How much did Harambee Stars receive from CECAFA after finishing in position 2 and how much did KFF pocket? Just think about it?
@Walter, I don’t get your point. Who are ‘we’? I’m sure if given a chance to go to CECAFA Gor will take it with open arms. Which team does not want to engage in international matches for exposure? It’s not always about the money. After all if we go and win the cup there will be several thousand dollars in our coffers.
Otherwise why were Gor fans crying as a result of our failure to win the TPL cup. It’s bacause winning that cup would have won us 3m (we get more from our matches), we would also have qualified for CAF and CECAFA tournament
@Dan 3 – there is some confusion in the context. I mean the recently concluded CECAFA and not the continental matches clubs participate in at club level. Anyway, I would still support your point with an open mind that exposure is necessary with or without money. However, without money how do you motivate the participants?
CECAFA to me is just a busy body to tire players and break their ankle for no reason we should have better organized tournaments where money is earned by the clubs not petty cash our players will never develop quickly enough why not hold the cup biannually
You mean,with the “wages” you pay your players,! Money is an issue at GOR GOONS FC? I did not know.If you want to participate in CECAFA, talk to INGWE who will in turn approach SIR NICK MUSONYE on your behalf.