The 2011 CECAFA Cup was an international football competition consisting of East and Central African national teams. It was the 35th edition of the annual CECAFA Cup. The tournament was hosted by Tanzania for the second consecutive year and seventh time overall.[1]
The tournament received Sh823 million (approximately $450,000) sponsorship from Serengeti Breweries Limited which covered the fees of the tournament such as the air tickets of all delegates, accommodations and prize money to name a few.[2] The competition was therefore known as the CECAFA Tusker Challenge Cup 2011.
The Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA) General Secretary Nicholas Musonye said that over 10 football associations applied to play as a guest team in the tournament.[3] Out of all the applicants, the final shortlist was trimmed to four; Côte d'Ivoire, Malawi, South Africa and Zambia.[4] However the Confederation of African Football (CAF) stated that Côte d'Ivoire and Zambia were not eligible to play in the competition as they had qualified for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations. Teams are not able to compete in another competition within a two-month period of the Africa Cup of Nations.[5]
The invitation was eventually extended to Malawi.[6] However, it was then reported that they withdrew, citing financial constraints and lack of preparation time due to the late invitation.[7] Zimbabwe had then been invited to replace them but the Malawian government told the Football Association of Malawi to reconsider their participation in the tournament as they along with CECAFA will shoulder their expenses.[8]
Eritrea were initially scheduled to participate but withdrew due to lack of funds and were replaced with Namibia. It was suggested by some media outlets that Eritrean authorities were mindful of players attempting to seek political asylum whilst in Tanzania.[9] Namibia eventually turned down the invitation, stating that it would disrupt the Namibia Premier League schedule.[10] They were replaced by Zimbabwe.[11]
All times are East Africa Time (EAT) – UTC+3
At the end of the first stage, a comparison was made between the third-placed teams of each group. The two best third-placed teams advanced to the quarter-finals.
The following were the awards of the tournament:[12]
Cédric Amissi
Ahmed Hassan Daoud
Jean-Baptiste Mugiraneza
Mwinyi Kazimoto
Isaac Isinde Dan Wagaluka
Donald Ngoma Floribert Ndayisaba Fuadi Ndayisenga Faty Papy
Adane Girma Getaneh Kebede
Bob Mugalia Pascal Ochieng.svg/1280px-Flag_of_Malawi_(2010%E2%80%932012).svg.png){kind=small}
John Banda Henry Kabichi Joseph Kamwendo Labama Bokota Jean-Claude Iranzi
Khalid Ali
Ramadan Agab Mohamed Shaikh Eldin Mowaia Fadasi Mohammed Musa Amir Rabea Muhannad El Tahir Nurdin Bakari Mrisho Ngassa Yusuf Rashid Thomas Ulimwengu Hamis Kizza Andrew Mwesigwa Mike Sserumaga
Ali Badru Ali Abdulrahaman Mohammed Aggrey Morris Hamad Omar Kassim Suleiman Selembe Qadr Amini Said Maulid (playing against Zimbabwe) Robert Odongkara (playing against Burundi)