Rwanda national football team head coach Stephen Constantine is worried that the cancellation of the 2014 Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup will hamper Amavubi’s preparations for the 2016 African Nations Cup (Chan).

The annual regional competition that was supposed to be held from November 24-December 6, is in jeopardy after Ethiopia announced their withdrawal from hosting it a fortnight ago. 

Cecafa are in talks with Sudan as a possible replacement but with no deal being agreed and time fast running out, the tournament could end up being called off.

Chan will be hosted in Rwanda less than 14 months from now and Constantine’s top priority is to prepare the Amavubi to put up a good performance during the continental showpiece in front of home fans.

Constantine admitted that, "Of course we are going to be affected if the Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup is called off. It was going to be a good test for our locally based players who have not played in three months.”

The Englishman is worried that if the Cecafa tournament is postponed then it means that the next time his side will play a game is in March next year, a feat that will hurt his preparations.

Amavubi have not played a game since Rwanda’s disqualification from the Africa Cup of Nations group stage qualifiers for fielding a dual identity player.

A 4-3 penalty shoot win against Congo Brazzaville at the Kigali regional stadium on August 2 represents the last encounter for the national side that was on the right course to qualifying for the continental event for the second time having made a debut appearance in 2004 in Tunisia.