The 2021 edition of the Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA) Women’s Challenge Cup that was slated to take place from December 3-18 this year in Djibouti will have to find a new host country.This is after the Djibouti Football Federation officially communicated that they will not be able to host the tournament at the El Hadj Hassan Gouled Stadium as had earlier been planned, citing ongoing rehabilitation works in the stadium as the reason as to why the country made the decision to withdraw from hosting the tourney.Djibouti withdraw from hosting CECAFA Women’s Challenge Cup 2021https://t.co/h1AwJZUBWU pic.twitter.com/5Fn9UsZjar— Cecafaonline (@Cecafaonline) October 29, 2021 In a letter dated October 28th, Youssouf Ahmed Mahamoud, the Secretary General of the Djibouti Football Federation communicated the development to CECAFA’s Executive Director Auka Gacheo.“We regret to inform you that following the meeting of the Board of Directors dated Tuesday, October 26, 2021, it was decided that the tournament of the senior Women’s teams scheduled in Djibouti for the period from 03 to 18th December has been canceled due to the rehabilitation of the Stadium El Hadj Hassan Gouled,” stated the letter sent to Gacheo.Following Djibouti’s withdrawal, Gacheo made it clear that the unforeseen event will not mean the tournament will not go on as scheduled. The Executive Director stated that the CECAFA Board will meet to deliberate about Djibouti’s communication and to find if another Member Association will be ready to host the competition.Kenya’s Harambee Starlets are the defending champions of the CECAFA Women’s Challenge Cup after defeating Tanzania in 2019 when the event was last held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.Congratulations @H_Starlets on your victorious campaign in Tanzania that has ended with a 2-0 win over Tanzania in the final of the CECAFA Women’s Challenge Cup! pic.twitter.com/ZOEfyavpmP— Kenya Rugby (@OfficialKRU) November 25, 2019 The men’s edition was already held in Ethiopia back in July at the Bahir Dar Stadium. In the tournament that was won by Tanzania, a strong Emerging Stars U23 squad that represented Kenya finished disappointingly in fourth place after losing the third/fourth playoff tie against South Sudan.
