Kenya withdraws from Under-17 World Cup qualifiers
What you need to know:
- Education CS Fred Matiang'i recently said all schools should be closed by October 25.
Football Kenya Federation on Thursday withdrew the national Under-17 team from the Women's World Cup qualifiers.
The decision comes barely a week after the senior men's team was disqualified from competing at next year's Africa Nations Championship (Chan) by the Confederation of African Football (Caf).
On Thursday, a communique from FKF indicated the federation was left with no alternative other than withdraw the girls team from the games owing to the incapacity to raise a team considering the qualification games are scheduled to be played at a time when students will be preparing for the end of year exams.
"Following consultations with the schools and Ministry of Education officials, we have decided to withdraw our participation to allow the players ample time to prepare and sit their exams, which we also find crucial for their development," FKF's chief executive Robert Muthomi said.
The federation normally scouts and selects most of the young players from primary and high schools.
Education CS Fred Matiang'i recently said all schools should be closed by October 25, an announcement that technically implies students will be expected to write their end of term exams starting a fortnight before this date.
Separately, the national men's team is again set to miss out on competing at the Chan tournament for the fifth time on the trot.
This after Kenyan team, which had qualified for the biannual tournament automatically as hosts, had the hosting rights taken away by Caf two weeks ago, owing to what the continental body said was a delay in completing the preparations.
This development comes as a big blow to the local-based players who are eligible to compete in this tournament, as FKF has recently lined up friendlies against Malawi, Morocco and Mauritania as part of the preparations.
