CAF CL QUALIFIER: Zanzibar Warrior Queens off to Ethiopia

ZANZIBAR: THE Warrior Queens from Unguja Urban West region left to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia yesterday to compete in the CAF Women’s Champions League CECAFA Qualifiers, which is scheduled to kick-off tomorrow and conclude September 4, this year.

Warriors Queens represents Zanzibar in Ethiopia as they are champions, following good performance in the women 2023/2024 league, which involved ten women teams.

It is one of the teams benefiting from the “Sports for Development (S4D) program supported by Germany Cooperation/ German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) aimed to promote women or gender equality in sports.

At the farewell reception for the ‘Zanzibar Warrior Queens’, officers from organisations implementing the S4D program, led by Mzuri Issa Ali- Director, Tanzania Media Women Association (TAMWA)- Zanzibar, wished the players victory.

“Show good behaviours and hard work so that you come back winners,” Mzuri said as she continued to push all stakeholders in promoting women rights to promote gender equality in the country including in sports.

Other implementers of the S4D program in Zanzibar are Zanzibar Female Lawyers Association (ZAFELA) and Centre for Youth Dialogue (CYD).

The CECAFA Women’s Champions League Zone Qualifier tournament in Ethiopia will bring together nine teams from across the region, competing for a chance to represent the Zone at the CAF Women’s Champions League finals.

Apart from the Zanzibar Warriors Queens, other teams participating for the first time are Kenya’s Police Bullets FC, Kawempe Muslim Ladies of Uganda, and Rayon Sport Women from Rwanda.

These new entrants join a competitive field that highlights the growing standard of women’s football within the CECAFA region.

Notable past representatives of the Zone include Kenya’s Vihiga Queens, Simba Queens from Tanzania and Tanzania’s JKT Queens.

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These teams have showcased varying degrees of success in previous editions, with Simba Queens reaching the semi-finals in 2022.

The Zonal qualifiers will see participation from teams such as Commercial Bank of Ethiopia, PVP Buyenzi from Burundi, FAD Djibouti and Yei Joint Stars from South Sudan, among others.