Kenya's Gor Mahia are yet to confirm whether they will participate in the Cecafa Kagame Cup 2021 that will be hosted in Dar es Salaam
Cecafa has confirmed the regional tournament will be held between August 1-15 and Simba, the Tanzania Mainland Premier League champions, will not take part.
The host country will be represented by Yanga SC and Azam FC, who completed the 2020/21 season in second and third place, respectively.
While Yanga will participate in the Caf Champions League, Azam will represent Tanzania in the Confederation Cup and the Cecafa Cup is set to give them a platform to test themselves against other regional clubs.
Tusker, Kenya's Champions League representatives, have confirmed they will be part of the August competition in the coastal city, while Uganda Premier League champions Express FC and the reigning champions, Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA FC), will represent Uganda.
Malawi Premier League champions Nyasa Big Bullets have also confirmed their participation as a guest team.
Although Ethiopia, Djibouti, Eritrea, Sudan, and Somalia are members of the Cecafa fraternity, none of the teams from these countries has indicated whether they are likely to be part of the tournament.
What has been said
The Cecafa executive director Auka Gecheo said the competition - the draw of which will be conducted on July 27 - is geared towards helping participants prepare for Caf competitions.
"This tournament will help our teams in the region prepare for the Caf competitions that start in September. We shall also have a guest team from Malawi to spice up the tournament," said the director.
KCCA defeated Azam to lift the Kagame Cup in 2019 in Rwanda. Last year, the tournament did not take place after the Covid-19 pandemic affected most sporting activities, including football, across the world.
KCCA FC.
The club competition will begin just after the Cecafa U23 competition - which is ongoing in the northern city of Ethiopia, Bahir Dar - ends.
Teams that have confirmed participation in the Cecafa Kagame Cup 2021 are Young Africans SC, Azam FC (Tanzania), Atlabara FC (South Sudan), Le Messager Ngozi FC (Burundi), APR (Rwanda), Express FC, KCCA FC (Uganda), Tusker FC (Kenya), KMKM SC (Zanzibar), Big Bullets FC (Malawi).
