Botswana pull out of World Cup qualifier second leg

What you need to know:

  • The Botswana women’s junior team has withdrawn from the return match of the 2018 Fifa Under 20 World Cup qualifier against Kenya scheduled for August 4 in Nairobi.
  • In a letter written to both Fifa and the Confederation of African Football, the Botswana Football Association (BFA) has cited financial difficulties as the reason for their premature withdrawal from the qualifiers.
  • This means that the Kenyan juniors have automatically entered the next round of qualification, and will rest easy until September 15 when they face Ethiopia away in yet another two-legged encounter.

The Botswana women’s junior team has withdrawn from the return match of the 2018 Fifa Under 20 World Cup qualifier against Kenya scheduled for August 4 in Nairobi.

In a letter written to both Fifa and the Confederation of African Football, the Botswana Football Association (BFA) has cited financial difficulties as the reason for their premature withdrawal from the qualifiers.

This means that the Kenyan juniors have automatically entered the next round of qualification, and will rest easy until September 15 when they face Ethiopia away in yet another two-legged encounter.

Speaking to Nation Sport from Gaborone on Friday , BFA Public Relations Officer Tumo Mpatane confirmed that they have already notified Football Kenya Federation of the new development, and has “asked them to withdraw the systems previously put in place”.

“We have written to all the parties involved, and asked them to understand our situation. Our association is dealing with financial problems at this point, and we have regrettably elected to pull out of the return match.

“I understand that there could be repercussions of this move, but it was our most viable option and at this point we are just waiting to hear from the mother body (Fifa),” he said.

The match was to be played at the Kenyatta Stadium in Machakos County.

Their withdrawal comes just a week after they suffered a 7-1 humiliation at home at the hands of their Kenyan counterparts in the first leg played in Gaborone, a result that significantly minimised their chances of ever advancing to the tournament’s first round.

The Kenyan squad had been camping at the Kenyatta Stadium in Machakos after their return from Botswana, but were released for the weekend break on Wednesday.

Kenya is among 18 nations gunning for one of the three slots available for Africa in next year’s World Cup in France.

They are scheduled to play in an invitational tournament in The Kingdom of Jordan this September.