Musonye blames "internal politics" for Cecafa crisis

Nicholas Musonye has been Cecafa secretary general since 2000

Cecafa secretary general Nicholas Musonye has laid the blame for the crisis in East and Central Africa's regional body firmly at the door of Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda.

A furious Musonye told the BBC that football administrators from the four nations needed to take a hard look at themselves.

He said dark clouds descended on Cecafa after the 2015 elections which saw the president of Sudan's FA, Muatasim Gafe, take over as regional boss.

Since then Cecafa has failed to organise its two main annual competitions - the Club Championship and the Senior Challenge Cup for national teams.

"There is a lot of politics in Cecafa that is bringing all this confusion," said Musonye, who oversees the interests of 12 nations.

He accused four countries of undermining progress and exacerbating the crisis by their attitude towards Gafe's leadership.

"I'm in charge of 12 countries, all of them being equal but Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda think they're more equal than others.

"The president of Sudan was elected president of Cecafa in an open and free election; these members decided that they cannot support the new president.

"Cecafa is not my company; I'm only their custodian as secretary general.

"If they want to kill Cecafa, let them do it, it's their baby, it's their organisation."

Musonye said the crisis in the governance of football in the region has also been a major factor in the decline in the fortunes of their teams.

"There is mediocrity in terms of organisation so they can never qualify [for the Africa Cup of Nations}.

"There is bad leadership in our zone which has been persistent for many years and this has really affected the promotion of football.

"Their mediocrity will continue as they watch other countries flourish in AFCON and other top competitions.

"Member associations of Cecafa don't even pay their annual fees - they don't pay participation fee either, they want to play for free."