Cecafa loses teams

Friday, 26 November, 2004, 16:58 GMT

By Emmanuel Muga
BBC Sport, Dar es Salaam

Eritrea and Djibouti have withdrawn from East and Central Africa's Cecafa Challenge Cup due to be held in Ethiopia next month.

Cecafa general secretary Nicholas Musonye said on Friday that the sides have pulled out because "they are unprepared for the tournament".

Ethiopia have now convinced Cecafa that they can host the event after Rwanda had been named as their replacements.

The remaining nine teams have been drawn in two groups.

In Group A are Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, Zanzibar and Ethiopia while in Group B there are the defending champions Uganda, Kenya, Somalia and Sudan.

All the matches will be played in Addis Ababa from 11 to 25 December.

The tournament is sponsored by Ethiopian millionaire Mohhamed Amu, who has offered US $500,000 for this year.

Musonye said that the money would be used to buy air tickets for the teams and as prizes for the top four teams.

Cecafa Fixtures:

Group A

11/12/04: Rwanda v Zanzibar, Ethiopia v Burundi
13/13/04: Zanzibar v Tanzania, Burundi v Rwanda
15/12/04: Tanzania v Burundi, Rwanda v Ethiopia
17/12/04: Burundi v Zanzibar, Ethiopia v Tanzania
19/12/04: Tanzania v Rwanda, Zanzibar v Ethiopia

Group B

12/12/04: Uganda v Somalia, Kenya v Sudan
14/12/04: Sudan v Uganda, Somalia v Kenya
18/12/04: Sudan v Somalia, Kenya v Uganda

Semi-Finals

22/12/04: Winner A v Runner Up B, Winner B v Runner Up A
24/12/04: Third place play-off
25/12/04: Final.