Friday

FUS Rabat vs SC Villa 8:30pm

A financial pledge from President Yoweri Museveni will help Uganda football club SC Villa fulfill a CAF Confederation Cup fixture against FUS Rabat in Morocco on Friday.

The long-serving head of state has promised the cash-strapped Kampala club $120 000 (105 000 euros) toward the costs of the two-leg, round-of-16 tie.

Villa are taking only 16 players, two coaches and three officials to the Moroccan capital for the first leg as they attempt to become the first Ugandan qualifiers for the mid-competition play-offs.

In the previous qualifying round of the secondary African club competition, the Ugandan outfit slashed costs by making a 25-hour bus and ferry journey to Zanzibar.

Travelling by road from Central Africa to Morocco in the north west of the continent was not practical, though, and club president Ben Misagga has hailed the assistance of Museveni.

Seventeen of 56 football associations eligible to enter the Confederation Cup this year declined, largely due to financial constraints, and two clubs withdrew after the draw was made. 

Debutants Villa are the only last 16 team boasting a perfect four-match record after home and away wins over Al Khartoum of Sudan and JKU of Zanzibar.

After a preliminary round bye, 2010 Confederation Cup winners FUS battled to oust modest UMS Loum of Cameroon 3-2 overall with Mourad Batna scoring the tie clincher.

Azam of Tanzania and Al Ahly Shendy of Sudan, the other East African survivors, enjoy home advantage first against Esperance of Tunisia and Medeama of Ghana respectively.

Esperance also struck seven goals in eliminating Renassance of Chad and two came from Taha Yassine Khenissi, who is injured and misses the trip to Dar es Salaam.