| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country | Ethiopia |
| Dates | 25 November – 10 December |
| Teams | 11 (from 2 sub-confederations) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Sudan (2nd title) |
| Runners-up |  Zambia |
| Third place |  Rwanda |
| Fourth place |  Uganda |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 23 |
| Goals scored | 48 (2.09 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Geoffrey Sserunkuma (3 goals) |
The 2006 Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup,[1] sometimes called the Al Amoudi Senior Challenge Cup due to being sponsored by Ethiopian millionaire Mohammed Hussein Al Amoudi,[2] was the 30th edition of the international football tournament, which involved teams from Southern and Central Africa. The matches were all played in Addis Ababa from 25 November to 10 December.[3] It was competed between the same teams as the previous tournament, except for Eritrea, who did not enter due to their long-running clash with Ethiopia regarding borders,[2] and Kenya, the five-time champions,[2] were serving a ban which was issued on 18 October 2006, which was then an indefinite from international football by the decree of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association ('International Federation of Association Football'), or FIFA; this after Kenya "regularly violated or ignored" "Fifa's statutes, regulations and decisions".[4] Malawi and Zambia joined the tournament after being invited, and competed as guest teams as they were from the federation Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA), whereas the rest of the teams were from the Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA).[3] The reasoning behind their invitation was that it would "boost the competitiveness of this year's tournament".[2] The defending champions, Ethiopia, were knocked out in the quarter-finals after coming second in their group, and Sudan claimed their second title despite being beaten by Zambia, as Zambia were guests.
- ^ "Mixed fortunes for Malawi, Zambia". BBC Sport. 27 November 2006. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
- ^ a b c d "Ethiopia chase third Cecafa Cup". BBC. 24 November 2006. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
- ^ a b "Ethiopia, November–December 2006". The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
- ^ "Fifa suspends Kenya". BBC. 25 October 2006. Retrieved 2 July 2014.