Alphonse Munyantwari, the president of Rwanda’s football governing body, has emphasized the importance of the CECAFA Senior Challenge Cup for the national team, urging them to take the tournament seriously in a bid to break their trophy drought.
Scheduled to take place in Zanzibar from June 29 to July 14, the CECAFA 2024 edition is expected to include countries beyond the CECAFA region, with invitations extended to non-member nations.
Ferwafa has confirmed Rwanda’s Amavubi’s participation in the upcoming tournament, with Munyantwari expressing optimism for a stronger showing compared to previous editions.
“Don’t worry, the national team will participate in CECAFA. We are going to take the tournament seriously and our team will do better,” Munyantwari affirmed.
“We have to focus on these games. It is a good competition for our players. We’ll be taking the tournament very seriously and we must prepare well so that we can do better,” he reiterated.
Amavubi last competed in the CECAFA tournament during the 2017 edition in Kenya, where they were eliminated in the group stages. The subsequent CECAFA edition in 2019, held in Uganda, saw Rwanda’s absence, with the tournament disrupted in 2020, 2021, and 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to organizers.
Rwanda has clinched the CECAFA Senior Challenge Cup once in their last nine appearances, securing the trophy in 1999 after defeating Kenya 3-1 in the final at Amahoro Stadium.
