The Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations (Cecafa) confirmed that the 2018 Senior Challenge Cup, which was scheduled to start later this month, will not take place.
Cecafa struggled to find new hosts after Kenya pulled out of staging the event in August due to financial reasons.
In August the regional body was thrown into panic after the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) announced that financial challenges would not allow them to host the Championship.
Nicholas Musonye, the Cecafa Secretary General is quoted by BBC saying, “It is unfortunate we cannot have the Challenge Cup that brings together all nation teams in the region,”
“We tried to get alternatives, but the timing was also impossible because the Caf Champions League and Confederation Cup matches will this time start in November through to December from the preliminary round,” explained Musonye.
“We want to align our regional calendar of events to that adopted by Fifa therefore, Kagame Cup and Senior Challenge Cup will be played in June/July,” he added.
Kenya are the defending champions of the regional competition after beating Zanzibar 3-2 on post-match penalties in the final at Kenyatta Stadium, Machakos in December 2017.
However, it is confirmed that Uganda will host the Cecafa U-20 Championship which runs from 15-23 December.
Cecafa tournament is collaborative between the larger Eastern African countries and part of Central Africa and run by the Council of East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA).
The tournament began way back in 1926 under the name Gossage Cup which then was mainly a Kenya-Uganda affair. The first ever CECAFA Senior Challenge Cup was held in Uganda in 1973 and the hosts Uganda emerged winners beating Tanzania 2-1 in the finals.
Cranes are the record holders of the regional championship with 14 titles and last won it in 2015 hosted by Ethiopia.