The 2012 CECAFA Cup (known as the CECAFA Tusker Challenge Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 36th edition of the annual

CECAFA Cup The CECAFA Cup, formerly the Gossage Cup (1926–1966) and the East and Central African Senior Challenge Cup (1967–1971), is the oldest football tournament in Africa. It is organized by the Council for East and Central Africa Football Associati ...

, an international football competition consisting of national teams of member nations of the

Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations The Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations (, , , ; officially abbreviated as CECAFA) is an association of the football playing nations in mostly East Africa and parts of Central Africa. An affiliate of the Confederation of Afr ...

(CECAFA). The tournament, which was held in

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

from 24 November to 8 December, saw

South Sudan South Sudan (), officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered on the north by Sudan; on the east by Ethiopia; on the south by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Kenya; and on the ...

participate in their first international football tournament. Hosts

beat

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

to extend their record to 13 titles.

Background

From November 2011, the tournament was planned to take place in

, and preparations already began to take place, including the renovation of the

Moi Stadium Moi Stadium is a multi-use stadium in Kisumu, Kenya. It used mostly for football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqual ...

Kisumu Kisumu ( ) is the third-largest city in Kenya located in the Lake Victoria area in the former Nyanza Province. It is the second-largest city after Kampala in the Lake Victoria Basin. The city has a population of slightly over 600,000. The ...

. However, in August 2012, CECAFA General Secretary Nicholas Musonye stated that it would be moved to Uganda after a request from the tournament sponsors, East African Breweries. This sparked heated debate between Musonye and

Football Kenya Federation The Football Kenya Federation (abbreviated as Football Kenya or FKF) is the governing body of football in Kenya. The FKF organizes the Kenyan Premier League, the Kenyan Women's Premier League, FKF Division One, FKF Women Division One and Ken ...

(FKF) Chairman Sam Nyamweya, who had even received support from

to host the tournament in Kenya. Matches were played at the Namboole Stadium, with a capacity of 45,202. They were also to be played at the

Nakivubo Stadium Hamz Stadium, Nakivubo War Memorial Grounds, formerly referred to as Nakivubo Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Kampala, Uganda. Following extensive renovations led by businessman Haji Hamis Kiggundu, Dr. Hamis Kiggundu in partnership with th ...

, which can hold 15,000 people. However, CECAFA Secretary General Nicholas Musonye decided to move the remaining group games from the Namboole Stadium since it had been in bad shape due to heavy rains. It was confirmed that on Saturday, 1 December, Somalia would play Tanzania at the

Lugogo Stadium Lugogo Stadium, also known as Lugogo Cricket Oval, is a cricket ground in Kampala, Uganda. The first recorded match held on the ground came in 1957 when Kenya Asians played Sunder Cricket Club. It has also gained popularity as a music concert ven ...

at 14:00

UTC+3 UTC+03:00 is an identifier for a UTC offset, time offset from UTC of +03:00. In areas using this time offset, the time is three hours ahead of the Coordinated Universal Time, Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). Following the ISO 8601 standard, ...

while Eritrea would take on Rwanda at the same venue two hours later. On the same day, Sudan were to play Burundi at the Wankulukuku Stadium at 14:00 UTC+3, and finally Malawi to play Zanzibar at the same stadium two hours later.

Participants

The draw for teams to participate in the tournament was held on 12 November 2012. It was originally scheduled for 8 November, but was postponed for undisclosed reasons.

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...

Malawi Malawi, officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast, and Mozambique to the east, south, and southwest. Malawi spans over and ...

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

and

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

had all expressed interest in participating in the tournament. Botswana's interest to join had eventually "fallen off", while Cameroon were not considered as they wanted to send their under-23 team. Ivory Coast and Zambia, having qualified for the

2013 Africa Cup of Nations The 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange S.A., Orange Africa Cup of Nations South Africa 2013 for sponsorship reasons, held from 19 January to 10 February 2013, was the 29th Africa Cup of Nations, the Association football, footbal ...

, were ineligible to enter. The

Confederation of African Football The Confederation of African Football (CAF) is the administrative and controlling body for association football, beach soccer, and futsal in Africa. It was established on 8 February 1957 at the ''Grand Hotel'' in Khartoum, Sudan. At the FIFA Co ...

(CAF) rules do not allow teams to compete in another competition within a two-month period of the Africa Cup of Nations. Ethiopia also qualified for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, but still took part as they are members of CECAFA. On 6 November 2012, the

Football Association of Malawi The Football Association of Malawi (FAM) is the governing body controlling the sport of football in the southern African country of Malawi. The Association is affiliated to the Confederation of African Football, FIFA and COSAFA. History The Fo ...

announced that they had been officially invited to the tournament as a guest team. They replaced

Djibouti Djibouti, officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to the east. The country has an area ...

, who pulled out due to administrative reasons. Tournament sponsors East African Breweries set a

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

450,000 budget for the tournament, including US$30,000 as prize money for the winning team. The runners-up and third-placed teams received US$20,000 and US$10,000 respectively. The following teams were confirmed to participate in the tournament: * * * * * (invitee) * * * * * * (host) *

Match officials

The following 16 officials were appointed by

CECAFA The Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations (, , , ; officially abbreviated as CECAFA) is an association of the football playing nations in mostly East Africa and parts of Central Africa. An affiliate of the Confederation of Afr ...

to participate in the tournament. ;Referees * Thierry Nkurunziza * Mensur Maeruf * Anthony Ogwayo * Louis Hakizimana * Mohamed El Fadhil * Israel Mujuni * Dennis Batte * Ali Kalyango ;Assistant referees * Mussie Kindie * Peter Sabatia * Ambroise Hakizimana * Omar Abukar * Mohammed Idam * Klemence Erasmo * Mark Ssonko * Ali Kinduli

Squads

Group stage

The group stage began on 24 November and ended on 1 December. The matchdays were 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30 November and 1 December. If two or more teams are equal on points on completion of the group matches, the following criteria are applied to determine the rankings (in descending order): # Number of points obtained in games between the teams involved; # Goal difference in games between the teams involved; # Goals scored in games between the teams involved; # Away goals scored in games between the teams involved; # Goal difference in all games; # Goals scored in all games; # Drawing of lots.

Group A

Group B

Group C

Third place qualification

In addition to the group stage winners and runners-up, the two best third-placed teams were ranked at the end of the group stage to determine who would qualify for the knockout stage.

Knockout stage

The knockout stage began on 3 December with the

quarter-finals A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

and ended on 8 December with the

. In this stage, teams play against each other once. The losers of the

semi-finals A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, ...

play against each other in a

third place playoff Many sports playoffs and knockout tournaments include a third place playoff, third place match, bronze medal game, or consolation game to decide which competitor or team will be credited with finishing third and fourth. This game is typically c ...

where the winner is placed third overall in the entire competition.

Bracket

Quarter-finals

The quarter-finals were played on 3–4 December 2012.

Semi-finals

The semi-finals were played on 6 December 2012.

Third place playoff

Final

Top scorers

Awards

*Player of the Tournament: Brian Umony *Top goalscorer of the Tournament: Robert Ssentongo *Goalkeeper of the Tournament: Hamza Muwonge

Final rankings

Teams are ranked using the same tie-breaking criteria as in the

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

, except for the top four teams. , - , colspan="14", Eliminated in the quarter-finals , - , - , colspan="14", Eliminated in the group stage , -

References

External links

* {{2012 in African football (CAF)

International association football competitions hosted by Uganda CECAFA Cup