Prior to the last day of the 2011 CECAFA Tusker senior challenge cup, secretary general of the council of east and central Africa football associations (CECAFA) Nicholas Musonye revealed that the participation of national teams outside the region had sweetened the CECAFA competitions.
He termed the media as ‘real partners’ of CECAFA and TFF saying they made stories about the competition circulate around the globe.
“The end of our competition is tomorrow and we have four teams who reached the semifinal. They are from Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania and Sudan. They are the best four teams in the region and I really thank them” Musonye noted.
He said eventhough Tanzania lost in the semifinal, they lost with honor and deserved to be recognized for their good performance during the tournament.
“The media did a good job. If you look in the media, generally there were stories and comments about the competition. For the partners of CECAFA and TFF, you have done well. So let the final match be highly covered as you did in the past,” CECAFA secretary general Nocholas Musonye said during Friday’s press conference.
He said that teams from Zimbabwe and Malawi who took part in the competition as guests gave the region a very good competition. CECAFA appreciated their participation in the challenge cup.
“Next year we hope to have a very huge competition in Nairobi with the participation of big football nations like Nigeria,” he added.
Musonye also thanked United Against Malaria and Tusker for their partnership.
“We want to fight malaria against our society though football,” he noted adding that CECAFA was also sending words of gratitude to Tanzanian government and people for their welcome and good hospitality.
“On behalf of CECAFA, I want to clearly say that Tanzanian government did well in supporting CECAFA. Without the government’s support, we couldn’t have accomplished what we have done. They made us feel here at home,” Musionye emphasized.
“The competition will end tomorrow and we have everything including medals and the prize money is 30,000 USD for the winning team and 20,000 USD for the second place, while the 3rd place team will be awarded with 10,000 USD,” Musonye announced.
He reminded some coaches whom he accused of bad behavior during the tournament.
“I am not going to mention their names in the media, but I am telling them that we are about to lose our patience if they don’t obey the rules,” the CECAFA secretary General warned.
Tanzanian Football Federation Secretary General Mr. Osiah Angetile who talked to reporters during the same press conference thanked the sponsors as well as the Tanzanian government for their role in implementing a good and successful tournament.
