Lack of funds has forced Football Kenya Federation (FKF) to abandon Harambee Stars training Camp ahead of 2019 Africa Cup of Nations double header qualifier against neihgbours Ethiopia.
The federation and the government have failed to raise the money ahead of the next week’s match to be staged in Addis Ababa and a return leg at Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani.
Locally based players were to be in camp by Wednesday and will be training at the Utalii grounds every morning and returning to their respective residence until October 6 when they travel to Ethiopia.
They will be joined by the foreign-based legion before the away match which has been scheduled for October 10 in Bahir Dar. And until now, the plans are in jeopardy as FKF was yet to receive the players’ travel tickets from the Ministry of Sports.
Addressing the matter, Sports Principal Secretary Kirimi Kaberia said that as compared to other federations, FKF has claimed a huge chunk of the ministry’s budgets over the last two years, and that an internal rationalisation of procedures and harmonisation of funds allocation is currently ongoing at the ministry.
Kaberia however assured the public that the players’ tickets will be dispatched in good time.
“There is no problem at all but you see, we do not have an endless supply of money. We have found out that about 60-65 per cent of our budgets in the last quarter have funded football activities and that is a very high amount. If you see the numbers you will be surprised,” he said. “But we appreciate the role of football in this country and I promise that the team will travel in good time. There are procedures to be followed in releasing funds for those tickets so we are calling for patience.”
Stars are expected to face the Walya Antelopes in Bahir Dar and Nairobi on October 10 and 13 respectively, with aim of qualifying for the continental football championship for the first time in 14 years.
Stars will be buoyed by the historic 1-0 win over Ghana in Nairobi last month, although they need to swat aside Ethiopia in both ties to enhance their chances of securing a place in next year’s showpiece which will be held in Cameroon.
Source: Daily Nation