Rayon Sports to play in Kagame Cup

PRIMUS League champions Rayon Sports, Uganda Revenue Authority FC and Elect Sport of Chad have been invited to replace teams that pulled out for the forth coming 2013 Cecafa Kagame Club Championships which starts next week in Sudan.Tanzanian giants Simba SC and two-time defending champions Yanga FC as well as Kenyan champions Tusker FC all pulled out citing lack of security in the Sudan States of North Darfur and South Kordofan despite assurances by the Sudanese Government. “We invited other teams because we as Cecafa and the Sudanese Government tried to convince Yanga, Simba and Tusker that pulled out that security in Sudan was fine and they refused to believe,” Cecafa Secretary General Nicholas Musonye told Times Sport by phone from Nairobi On Thursday.“Even without the Tanzanian teams, the standard of the tournament will remain high. So we are not worried at all that they’ve pulled out,” he added.ReprimandThe long-serving Cecafa SG hinted on the possibility of punishing the teams that have withdrawn from the tournament at the last minute.He said, “Clubs that pulled out on the last minute on political grounds other than sporting reasons could be punished, the council (Cecafa) will sit soon to decide their fate.”“We have enough money to spend on the participating teams, and we believe the 13 clubs will make this competition even better,” stated Musonye.Reacting to the invitation, Rayon Sports team manager Thierry Hitimana told Times Sport that though the invite came as a surprise, they are ready to take part in the competition.“We have called back our players into camp which starts on Thursday (yesterday) and we plan to work intensively in the next few days before heading to Darfur,” said the former Rayon midfielder.He added, “The tournament gives another good experience for our team to prepare for next year’s African Champions League.” Rayon will also be aiming to repeat the 1998 feat when they went to Mwanza and won the championship for the first time in their club history and also became the first Rwandan club to win the regional title on foreign soil. Atraco later did it in 2009 in Khartoum, Sudan.The Blues won the 2013 Primus National Football league title after a nine-year drought. They also won the inaugural Genocide Memorial Tournament, Agaciro Development Fund cup and the RwandaFootball.com cup.With the inclusion of the three clubs, some changes are going to be made in the groupings when the Cecafa members and hosts Sudan Football Federation meet in Khartoum this weekend. Young Africans will not have chance to defend their title.The championship which is sponsored by President Paul Kagame will now feature; Al Ahly Shandi (Sudan), Al Nasir (South Sudan), Al-Hilal Kadugli (Sudan), Express FC (Uganda), URA FC (Uganda), Ports FC (Djibouti), Vital’O (Burundi), Merriekh El Fasher (Sudan), APR (Rwanda), Elman (Somalia), Rayon Sports (Rwanda) and Elect Sport (Chad).