The CECAFA pre-CHAN tournament will kick off today, Tuesday July 22nd, 2025, at the Black Rhino Academy Stadium in Karatu, Tanzania, but without Kenya, who withdrew from the competition yesterday following technical recommendations from the team’s bench.

The tournament will now feature three teams: hosts Tanzania, regional rivals Uganda, and defending CHAN champions Senegal.Tanzania and Uganda will open the tournament this afternoon at 3:00 PM, with the remaining fixtures set for July 24th (Uganda vs Senegal) and July 27th (Tanzania vs Senegal).

Despite Kenya’s late withdrawal, CECAFA Executive Director Auka Gecheo confirmed the tournament will proceed.

“It is unfortunate Kenya decided to withdraw after the team had even arrived in Karatu. But we shall go ahead and have matches between the three teams because we believe this will give our teams a good platform to test themselves before CHAN,” Gecheo stated.

Tanzania head coach Hemed Suleiman Ali said the matches offer valuable preparation after their recent training camp in Egypt.“Playing against Uganda and Senegal will give us a good test to assess our strengths and weaknesses before the tournament,” said Hemed.

Uganda Cranes manager Geoffrey Massa echoed similar sentiments, while his side held a training session at the Black Rhino Sports Centre in Karatu ahead of today’s opener.

All three teams are using the tournament as final preparation for the TotalEnergies CHAN 2024, which kicks off in just under two weeks.