The CECAFA U-18 Women’s Championship 2023 has been pushed forward for the second time, with CECAFA confirming that seven teams will take part in the competition.
The tournament, which will be staged in Nairobi, Kenya, was initially set to kick off on the 3rd of June before it was moved to the 24th of June to give teams more time to prepare for the tournament, which makes a comeback after a two-year absence.
CECAFA has now confirmed that Kenya will host the tournament, which will be the first CECAFA tournament of the season between June 29th and July 11th in Nairobi.
“We are happy that finally we shall have seven teams taking part in this season’s opening tournament. We expect a very competitive event,” Auka Gecheo, the CECAFA Executive Director, is quoted as saying on the CECAFA portal.
Seven teams have confirmed participation in the tournament, and the draw will be conducted this week with four teams placed in one of the groups and three others in the second group.
Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi, Djibouti, and Zanzibar have confirmed their participation in the annual championship.
The Kenyan team has intensified training in readiness for the championship. Under the guidance of coach Beldine Odemba, the team is currently in residential camp, and the tactician is expected to name her final squad in the coming days.
Over the weekend, they played Women’s Premier League side Zetech in a friendly, winning 3-2.
After the CECAFA U-18 Women’s Championship, Ethiopia will host the CECAFA U-23 Championship in July, while the Kagame CECAFA Club Championship takes place in August and the Zonal Women’s Champions League qualifier is in Uganda.
The CECAFA U-18 Boys Championship and the CECAFA U-15 Boys Championship are also slated to take place later this year.
