By Charles K Mark
Council of East and Central Africa Football Association (CECAFA) has invited South Sudanese football referees to officiate matches in the under-15 CECAFA Championship.
The referees, Noah Makuac; centre referee, and Dote Charles Costa, assistant referee, will participate in the East and Central African football tournament.
SSFA spokesperson, Albino Kuek Deng said they have been investing so much in capacity building of the referees.
“We’ve been investing so much in the training of the Cadres. This particular appointment came as a result of the capacity building, we carried out throughout our time in the office. We have shown a good number of referees,” he told this outlet.
CECAFA Executive Director, Auka Gecheo, on Tuesday placed South Sudan’s Bright Stars in Group A alongside the hosts, Uganda, Ethiopia, and Djibouti.
Tanzania will open group B with a match against Somalia on November 5th, and Zanzibar will take on Rwanda in the second match of group B on the same day.
SSFA stated that on top of the young referees invited, the head of the Central Referee Committee, Mr. Janwar Fraser, was also called to physically supervise the referees in the tournament.
“We’ll continue to do what is necessary so that our referees dominate not only CECAFA but also at the level of CAF and FIFA matches, and that is not impossible,” Deng said.
The SSFA spokesperson said the future of South Sudan football, especially in the referees’ section, is very promising.
“And we’ll do whatever is necessary to train our people and prepare them for a better future,” he pledged.
The National Football Federation also reported that the delegation of referees left Juba yesterday morning for Uganda.
Mr. Deng, however, urged the government to make long-term financial investments in a permanent vision to support sports in the country.
The last Council of East and Central African Football Association’s (CECAFA) U-15 Championship was held in Asmara, Eritrea, in 2019, where Uganda defeated Kenya in the final to lift the trophy.
Meanwhile, Kenya is said to have notified CECAFA of their inability to send a team for this year’s tournament.
The federation revealed that Kenya joins other member associations—Sudan, Burundi, and Eritrea—that are able to participate.