Schools from Kenya and Uganda have been drawn in the 2024 International School Sport Federation (ISF) Football World Cup to take place in China.

The Football World Cup for schools that will attract teams from several continents will take place May 17-27th in the city of Dalian.

In the draw conducted on Tuesday in Dalian by the ISF President of the Technical Commission who is also the 1st Vice President of the Uganda FA, Justus Mugisha, Kenya’s girls schools (Not yet named) was placed in Group D together with St. Noa Girls (Uganda), Germany, England and Ghana.

Amus College Schools from Mbale in Uganda was placed in Group C to place against Brazil, Czech Republic, Canada and Nigeria.

In the boys category the team from Kenya (Not yet named) was placed together with Benin, Amus College School (Uganda) and Taipei in Group G, while and  in Group Another Ugandan side, St. Marys College Kisubi is placed in Group E alongside Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, England, Hungary and New Zealand.

“It was a great experience performing a draw for 56 teams from the top 33 football countries of the world in this great city of China, Dalian, ” said Mugisha.

He said the facilities in Dalian like hotels and stadiums ate first class and he is optimistic the tournament will be successful.

China and France are the reigning champions for the girls and boys categories respectively. During last year’s ISF World Cup held in Rabat, Morocco, St. Noa Girls bagged bronze in the girls category.

Bunyoro based Kitara FC have ejected Cup holders SC Vipers at the quarter final stage of the Stanbic Uganda Cup.

Kitara FC, the surprise package who also lead the Uganda Premier League standing edged Vipers SC 5-4 in penalty shoot-outs after the match had ended 1-1 at the Masindi Stadium on Sunday.

After a goalless first half striker Yunus Ssentamu gave Vipers the lead after 51 minutes, but Paul Mucureezi leveled matters after 67 minutes from the spot.

The game later went into extra 30 minutes after the 90-minutes ended 1-1. Bright Anukani restored Vipers’ lead a penalty conversion after 117 minutes. But six minutes later Mucureezi was on hand to level matters for The Royals again infront of their passionate fans.

During the penalty shoot outs Karim Watambala missed for Vipers SC, while Kitara converted all their five with Mucureezi netting the last penalty.

Kitara FC now join Bidco FC,  NEC FC and Pajule Lions FC. Bidco Fc ejected KCCA FC 6-5 on penalties on Saturday after a 1-1 draw, while NEC saw off Police FC 2-0, and Pajule Lions defeated Pakwach Young Stars 1-0.

The winner of the Stanbic Uganda Cup will represent Uganda in the 2024/2025 TotalEnergies Confederation Cup.

Kenya and Rwanda are the two members from the Council of East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA) Zone that have improved their ranking in the latest FIFA ranking released on April 4^th, 2024.

Although Uganda remained static at 92^nd in the world with 1242.15 points and top in the CECAFA Zone, Kenya climbed by four places to 107^th place in the world ranking and second in the Zone with 1191.24 points.

Kenya’s improvement comes after their recent International friendly matches were they defeated hosts Malawi 4-0 and Zimbabwe 3-1 and went on to win the 4-Nations tournament.

Rwanda also improved by two places to 131^st in the FIFA rankings and 5^th in the CECAFA Zone with 1112.44 points. Tanzania remained static at 119^th place and Sudan at 127 points.

Burundi who are placed sixth in the CECAFA Zone are ranked 140^th, Ethiopia 145^th, while South Sudan dropped by one place to 167^th place. Djibouti and Somalia are lowly ranked at 192 and 199 respectively, while Eritrea is unranked.

FIFA rankings for CECAFA members

Uganda – 92

Kenya – 107

Tanzania – 119

Sudan – 127

Rwanda – 131

Burundi – 140

Ethiopia – 145

South Sudan – 167

Djibouti – 192

Somalia – 199

Eritrea – Unranked

FIFA has appointed four referees from the Council of East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA) to officiate at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics.

The 2024 Paris Summer Olympics that will feature 32 sporting disciplines including Football will take place July 26^th to August 11^th in France.

The referees selected from the CECAFA Zone include; Ismail Mohmood Ali (Sudan), Ahmed Liban Abdoulrazack (Djibouti), Stephen Yiembe (Kenya) and female referee Shamira Nabadda from Uganda.

“We are very happy and proud to have our referees selected for the Paris Olympics,” said the CECAFA head of refereeing, Ali Ahmed.

FIFA has appointed 21 referees, 42 assistants, 20 video match officials and 6 support who will be in-charge of both the men and women’s category.  Ten match officials from Africa have been appointed by FIFA.

Egypt and Mali qualified to represent Africa in the men’s category, while for the women’s category Nigeria are facing South Africa, and Zambia taking on Morocco to decide who takes the two slots.  Canada are the women’s defending champions, while Brazil were the two-time men’s defending champions but failed to qualify.

The men’s tournament is a U-23 competition but three players in each squad over the age of 23 are allowed to compete for their nations, while the women’s category allows players of all ages to compete.