In-form Kenya contest cup

Kenya will be looking to continue their good form

Hosts Tanzania play Kenya in the curtain-raiser to the East and Central African Senior Challenge Cup, Africa's oldest cup competition, on Saturday.

Kenya are the form side in the east African region, having made an impressive start to their African Nations Cup qualifying campaign with two straight wins.

They look strong favourites to become the first east African country to reach the continental finals in more than a decade.

Coach Jacob Mulee has called up Belgian-based John Muiruri and Paul Oyuga from Orebro in Sweden for the match in Mwanza.

But captain Musa Otieno, who plays for South African champions Santos, will not be travelling because of club commitments. Defending champions Ethiopia open their campaign on 2 December against Zanzibar in Arusha.

Club commitments force Otieno's absence

Uganda recently beat Ghana in an African Nations Cup qualifier and are using the regional competition to experiment with more new players.

Hosts Tanzania traditionally split their national side into two for the tournament.

They use only players from the mainland under the banner of the Taifa Stars and with Zanzibar playing as a separate team even though they are not Fifa members.

A total of 10 countries compete in the annual tournament, to be played through to 14 December in the northern Tanzanian towns of Arusha and Mwanza.

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Fixtures:

Group A, Mwanza
30 Nov - Tanzania mainland v Kenya
1 Dec - Burundi v Eritrea
2 Dec - Tanzania mainland v Sudan
3 Dec - Burundi v Kenya
4 Dec - Eritrea v Sudan
5 Dec - Tanzania mainland v Burundi
6 Dec - Eritrea v Kenya
7 Dec - Burundi v Sudan
8 Dec - Tanzania mainland v Eritrea
9 Dec - Kenya v Sudan

Group B, Arusha
30 Nov - Rwanda v Zanzibar
1 Dec - Somalia v Uganda
2 Dec - Ethiopia v Zanzibar
3 Dec - Rwanda v Somalia
4 Dec - Ethiopia v Uganda
5 Dec - Somalia v Zanzibar
6 Dec - Rwanda v Uganda
7 Dec - Ethiopia v Somalia
8 Dec - Uganda v Zanzibar
9 Dec - Ethiopia v Rwanda

Semi-finals
11 Dec - winner group A v runner-up group B, Mwanza
12 Dec - winner group B v runner-up group A, Arusha

Final
14 Dec - in Mwanza