KCC can attain African glory on another stage

Apr 08, 2009

A security guard on Tuesday robbed Petro Feast fuel station in Kisenyi of over sh15m after placing three of its staff at gunpoint.

APRIL 17
CAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

KCC v El Merriekh
Champions League cash
Club Federation
Winner $1m $50,000
R/up $0.75m $35,000
Semis $0.427m $22,000
Grp-3rd $0.261m $13,750
Grp-4th $0.190m $10,000


By Fred Kaweesi

PART of the beauty about KCC FC’s progress to the second round of the MTN-sponsored CAF Champions League, is that it will not necessarily mean the end of continental football if they fail to get past Sudanese giants El Merriekh.

According to CAF Champions League regulations, Uganda’s league champions will still qualify to play in the CAF Confederation Cup, a subsidiary tournament of the Champions League competition.

The eight teams eliminated from the 1/8th finals of the CAF Champions League will automatically qualify to play the additional 1/8th finals round of the Confederation Cup, according to the rules.
The frustration though of such a scenario is that the financially-crippled KCC would miss out on the money-spinning group stages.

If KCC negotiate their way past Sudan’s El Merreikh over two legs, they will be guaranteed a minimum $0.19m (sh399m) in the Champions League group stage.
KCC would also be the first Ugandan soccer club to reach the last eight since the lucrative stage was introduced in 1997.

The Champions’ League operates as a knockout competition, with a final group stage, where each tie (including the final) played over two legs –– home and away.

There are three knockout stages: the preliminary stage, the first round (32 teams) and the second round (16 teams).

The eight teams knocked out of the second round are entered into the Confederation Cup to play against the final 8 teams in that competition.

After the second round of the Confederation Cup, the last eight teams are split into two groups of four.

The winner and runner-up in these two groups qualify to play in a semi-final for the chance to contest the Confederation final.

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});