Harambee Stars’ woes: Wario just a talking shop

It has been a shameful week for local football, with both the government and Football Kenya Federation (FKF) refusing to take the initiative in regards to the financing and organisation of the national team Harambee Stars.

Why did Sports Cabinet Secretary Hassan Wario announce with fanfare a few weeks ago that the government would take over the running of Stars, and then keep mum when the team had to prepare this week for a crucial World Cup qualifying match against Cape Verde?

Wario badly let the country down this past week. The players and technical bench already feel demoralised after not receiving their allowances for the previous match against Mauritius, with the foreign-based squad members not getting refunds after paying for their tickets to Kenya.

This sums up our society today. There is a ‘don’t care attitude’, a ‘me first, forget about the others’ thinking with our leaders. The government doesn’t care about our sportsmen and women.

Look at the sorry tale of our Paralympic team, who were abandoned at the last minute, and will not compete at the Rio Olympics barring some sort of miracle. When will the government wake up, create a dedicated sports ministry and realise that this where serious money and marketing of Kenya can be realised?

Of course we wouldn’t have reached this situation had our ‘broke’ FKF not mismanaged the sport so much that it is literally on its knees financially. The rot is so deep that even the run up to the forthcoming elections have been nothing short of a shambles.

From bickering amongst the delegates of the electoral board, to a lack of money to fund the electoral process – it would be a near miracle if the actual elections run on time! It’s pointless Fifa getting involved as the world governing body is in a mess itself, which really mirrors the arrogance of the local body.

CAPE VERDE FACTS AND FIGURES

Back to matters on the pitch and Harambee Stars will face a formidable side in Cape Verde, ranked 32 in the latest Fifa rankings. Cape Verdeans abroad, who are more numerous than the population of the islands themselves, are a major source of players for the national team.

Most of Cape Verde’s current international footballers play outside of Cape Verde (mainly in Europe, but also in Asia), and some were born outside of the islands.

Several players of Cape Verdean origin have chosen to play for other national teams – including Nani for Portugal, Patrick Vieira (France) and Henrik Larsson (Sweden) amongst others.

Cape Verde has never qualified for the Fifa World Cup, but qualified for the 2013 African Cup of Nations after stunning Cameroon 3-2 on aggregate. They reached the quarterfinals, losing 2 nil to Ghana.

Last year they became the first of two nations to qualify for this year’s tournament alongside Algeria, joining the host nation Equatorial Guinea after defeating Mozambique 1 nil at home. Despite being unbeaten in their group, they were knocked out and remain undefeated in both Africa Cup of Nations tournaments they’ve competed in.

As for the country itself, Cape Verde is an island country spanning an archipelago of 10 volcanic islands in the central Atlantic Ocean. Located 570 kilometres off the coast of Western Africa, the islands cover a combined area of slightly over 4,000 square kilometres.

Incorporated as an overseas department of Portugal in 1951, the islands continued to agitate for independence, which was peacefully achieved in 1975. Lacking natural resources, its developing economy is mostly service-oriented, with a growing focus on tourism and foreign investment. Its population of around 512,000 is mostly of mixed European and African heritage, and predominantly Roman Catholic, reflecting the legacy of Portuguese rule.

Harambee Stars can expect to play the return leg in the capital city of Praia on the Santiago Island at the new stadium Estádio Nacional de Cabo Verde, which was opened last year and has a capacity of 15,000 people.

SEVENS PREPARE FOR THE OLYMPICS

The 2015/6 IRB International Sevens Circuit will be the biggest yet as the national teams prepare for the sport’s debut at the Rio 2016 Olympics. The likes of New Zealand and South Africa are leaving nothing to chance by bringing in their big guns from the fifteens squad, including World Cup winner Sonny Bill Williams and Bryan Habana.

So where does that leave Kenya? First they will look to book their ticket to Rio by qualifying in South Africa next weekend. Seeded top, the country will face stiff challenge from other 11 countries in Johannesburg on the 14th and 15th; and the competition will see Kenya take on Zimbabwe, Tunisia, Namibia, Uganda, Madagascar, Senegal, Zambia, Morocco, Mauritius, Nigeria and Botswana.

The winner of the tournament will secure an automatic spot at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, while the teams in positions two, three and four will then play a 16 team competition with the winner also booking a ticket to Rio.

The Kenyans have been training away from the glare of the press and public, with Benjamin Ayimba still at the helm despite the turmoil that surrounded him and the team just before the Safari Sevens.

There’s no denying that the pressure will be on for him and the team to deliver at the qualifiers next weekend and the IRB Sevens series thereafter following below par performances last season. However with the other squads raising the bar this will be another huge test for the Kenya Rugby Union (KRU), who has to keep the political interference away from the team and provide the technical bench with everything they require.

It’s well known that the Union has been having financial problems in 2015, but they will have to deliver in this Olympic year, as all the other countries involved will be throwing extra resources to make sure their teams are in peak condition for Brazil.

Make no mistake 2016 will be huge and the Kenyan public will be demanding results. They have rightly been critical of the team over the last year and the rugby stakeholders will be aware of that.

This is the time for the KRU to redeem itself and show other sporting associations how a national team can be professionally managed. There are plenty of young players breaking through and this can only be good news for the future of rugby in the country.

Sean Cardovillis, Sports Editor and presenter at Nation FM can be reached on [email protected]