New president for the Council of East and Central Africa Football Associations (Cecafa) Wallace Karia has promised positive changes under his leadership.
The Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) president, who was elected unopposed, will serve as Cecafa chief for the next four years and he says he will bring changes that will improve football in the region.
“It is a big job but I believe with solidarity and collaboration with my fellow federation presidents, we can improve," Karia told Daily Monitor.
“We will make sure we will implement the new programs being discussed by members and I can assure you change is coming.”
Francis Amin of South Sudan and Isayaz Jiro of Ethiopia were elected as Karia's deputies while Eyaza Abraham of Eritrea and Rwanda's Jean Sekemana were elected as council members on December 18 in Kampala.
Karia replaced Mutassim Gafar of the Sudan Football Association, whose tenure expired in October 2019, and he revealed his main priorities when it comes to age-group tournaments.
“Teams must compete to get Fifa funds and my main project is youth activities for both girls and boys,” he added.
Fufa president Moses Magogo, Djibouti's Souleiman Hassan Waberi and Somalia's Abdiqani Said were not allowed to contest for Cecafa’s executive positions by virtue of being executive members of Caf, but have promised to work with the new members in order to help grow the game in the region.
“We, as Caf executive members, will give them the maximum support to see that there are reforms and changes to make Cecafa better. We believe that the new team will succeed,” Magogo said.
Rwanda, South Sudan, Sudan and Ethiopia did not participate in the 2019 Cecafa Cup which was held in Uganda, with the hosts eventually winning their 15th title.
Eritrea, who defeated the defending champions Kenya, finished as the runners-up after a seven-year absence.
