THE newly appointed CECAFA president Wallace Karia said getting suitable sponsors for the tournament will be among his top priority at the helm of the association.
Karia who doubles as the Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) president took charge of the CECAFA top seat from Sudan’s Mutasim Gaffar whose four year tenure elapsed.
But speaking in Dar es Salaam recently, Karia said he is going to work closely with his colleagues to make sure that the tournament of CECAFA returns its lost reputation to become one of the greatest football competitions on the continent while naming sponsorship as crucial to run it smoothly.
“For a long time, CECAFA has been facing sponsorship problems which in one way or the other contributed to its underperformance and that is an area I am going to work on with my colleagues to see how best to tackle the problem,” he said.
He also said another area which needs to be addressed under his leadership is the issue of making CECAFA fixture friendly such that it does not interfere with other competitions.
“We will work hard to come up with the fixture which does not disrupt respective league matches as well as CAF and FIFA competitions as a step further to rebrand the tournament,” said he.
Asked how best he will be able to double the president responsibilities, Karia said the world is full of technology with modern means of communication such that it will be easy for him to undertake duo jobs without problems.
Again, he disclosed that competing in CECAFA tournament will be a must by all concerned member teams which he said is also one of the requirements by FIFA as a measure to be fulfilled before teams get funds.
“FIFA currently requires teams to play many competitive matches as such through competing in CECAFA, concerned teams will get a chance to benefit from the funds,” he said.
Karia ascended to CECAFA presidency unopposed and will work abreast with his first Vice-President Francis Amin from South Sudan and second Vice-President Jira Isayaa from Ethiopia.
