Cecaca tournament: Mombasa and Kisumu fans face Cup hiccup over Sh10m fee

BY ERNEST NDUNDA

Yonatan Kabede of Ethiopia (left) dribbles past Lubari Zariba of South Sudan during the Group A match at Afraha stadium in Nakuru. Ethiopia won 2-0. [PHOTO: BONIFACE THUKU / STANDARD]

Mombasa County Organising Committee for the Cecaca tournament quarter-finals has found itself in a quagmire after being told to pay Sh10m before the matches are staged at the renovated Mombasa Stadium.

Mombasa County Minister for Sports, Hazel Koitaba, confirmed yesterday receiving a letter from the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) President, Sam Nyamweya, that the money be remitted to the federation’s account.

“ We are in a dilemma after we were informed that the quarter-finalists will fly in in the morning and fly back the same day with the last night flight,” said Koitaba.

She said they had arranged for flight, accommodation, security and internal transport. She said the tournament was to boost the local ecomony.

“Mombasa County Government through its Governor Hassan Joho committed to renovate Mombasa Stadium to improve the county’s sports,” she said.

“We want to host the quarter-finals for the Mombasa football fans can watch and see some of the best professional players the region has and we are ready to do that since the stadium is in good condition,” she added.

remit funds

In a letter dated December 2 addressed to Koitaba, Nyamweya said the teams would fly in the morning, play in the afternoon and fly back to Nairobi.

Nyamweya directed the local organising committee to organise for a place for the teams to stay, warm up, change, and eat prior to their departure to the stadium.

“Kindly and urgently make arrangements to remit the funds and we will deliver the match tickets as promised,” said the letter signed by the football President.

John Kariuki, the Media Liaison, said the Sh10m had been agreed upon by the hosting counties.

In Kisumu, the County Government said they can’t raise Sh10 million to host Cecafa matches. Like other counties that will host the matches, Cecafa officials had asked them to pay the fee to host some of the matches.

Kisumu County Executive Officer in Charge of Sports, Mrs Jennifer Kerre told FeverPitch that they had been asked to pay Sh10m to host the Cecafa matches.

“It’s true that we were asked to pay Sh10m to host the Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup, but the County Government cannot raise that money. This is something the County Government had not budgeted for and we don’t know where we can get that money from,” she said.