Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan will be the official sponsor of the CECAFA Women’s Championship after the head of state agreed to pump a whooping fee well above Ksh. 10,000,000.The CECAFA Women’s Championship, also called Women’s Challenge Cup, is an association football tournament for teams from Eastern Africa organized by Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA).In agreeing to sponsor the women’s tourney, the Tanzanian President follows in the footsteps of Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame who sponsors the men’s CECAFA men’s championship. The women’s deal is however almost twice the sponsorship President Kagame offers for the men’s Challenge Cup, known as CECAFA Kagame Cup, which stands at Ksh. 6 million.Taarifa kutoka Shirikisho la Mpira wa Miguu Tanzania (TFF) @Tanfootball @TaifaStars_ @WKidao @caf_online @tplboard @azamtvtz @twigastars @wallacekaria pic.twitter.com/Ta5itb9IxT— TFF TANZANIA (@Tanfootball) September 2, 2021 Similar to the men’s competition named after Rwanda’s head of state, an official statement from the Tanzania Football Federation confirmed the women’s tourney will be renamed to CECAFA Samia Women Cup with immediate effect after the sponsorship package.“President’s Samia Suluhu Hassan’s sponsorship in the CECAFA Women’s Championship that will now be called CECAFA Samia Women Cup is to the amount of 100,000 USD (over Ksh. 10M). That money will be used to reward the teams as well as in buying the different awards on top of catering for the logistics. Winners of the tournament will walk away with 30,000 US Dollars while second and third placed teams walk away with 20,000 and 10,000 USD respectively. There will also be awards for the best player of the tournament, referees and coaches,” the statement read.Tanzania’s president Samia Suluhu criticized for describing the country’s female footballers as having “flat chests” and being unattractive for marriage. pic.twitter.com/KpUcJzdVNX— ZonkNews (@Zonknews20) August 23, 2021 President Samia made the announcement at State House in Dar es Salaam during a luncheon with the players of the under-23 soccer team and the Olympics athletic team.Just a week ago, the first female President of Tanzania came under heavy criticism for describing the country’s female footballers as having “flat chests” and being unattractive for marriage. And many feel this is an atonement for her remarks in August while hosting Tanzania’s Under-23 men’s football team at State House.
