Baptism of fire awaits Mbeya City
Mbeya City players warm up before a past Vodacom Premier League match. The Southern zone team will be taking part in an international event for the first time next week. photo | file
What you need to know:
- Organised by the Cecafa, the inaugural tournament will see the Mbeya-based outfit battle it out in Group B
Dar es Salaam. Mbeya City face baptism of fire on the international stage after being drawn with regional heavyweights in the inaugural Nile Basin Cup kicking off on May 22 in Sudan.
Organised by the Council of East and Central Africa Football Association (Cecafa), the inaugural tournament will see the Mbeya-based outfit battle it out in Group B.
In the announcement made by Cecafa secretary general Nicholas Musonye yesterday, Mbeya City are in the same pool with El Merreikh Al Fasher (Sudan), AFC Leopards (Kenya) and Elman (Somalia).
Cecafa opted to include Mbeya City in the tournament after Mainland champions Azam FC and Young Africans declined to take part in the inaugural edition.
Mbeya City finished third in the 2013/14 Vodacom League season behind Azam FC and Young Africans. The two Dar es Salaam bigwigs confirmed to the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) that they will not take part in this year’s tournament, opting to concentrate on the CAF Champions League and Confederation Cup respectively.
According to Musonye, Zanzibar will be represented by Police FC who will embark on the title hunt in Group A that also has El Merreikh (Sudan ), Victoria University (Uganda), Malakia (South Sudan),
Pool C has Al Ahli Shandi from Sudan, Al Masri (Egypt), Defence (Ethiopia) and Dkhill (Djibouti).
Musonye also urged the teams to use the tournament to fine-tune ahead of the forthcoming continental assignments in which the region continues to perform dismally.
The government of Sudan will cater for all expenses during the competition with winners taking home $30,000 (approximately Sh50m), runners-up $20,000(Sh30m) and $10, 000 (Sh15m) for third placed team.
The tournament aims at enabling Cecafa members’ teams improve their performance.
