Mwendwa raises red flag over football funding
What you need to know:
- He noted that members of the national women’s team are owed allowances of Sh80,000 each and that the federation is yet to pay Utalii Hotel Sh7 million for the team’s accommodation ahead of the abortive outing to the continental tournament in Ghana.
- Having already been assured of a ticket to the eight-nation Ghana tournament, Kenya was again withdrawn with the Confederation of African Football throwing out an appeal by FKF against Guinea Bissau for fielding an ineligible player.
If the government fails to provide funding for football programmes in the next seven days, then Harambee Stars’ return to the Africa Cup of Nations finals in March will be disastrous, Football Kenya Federation (FKF) President Nick Mwendwa has warned.
Speaking to Nation Sport on his concerns for the New Year, Mwendwa said his federation needs $2 million (Sh200 million) to launch any meaningful build-up to the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) finals for Harambee Stars.
He wants the National Sports Fund up and running, considering the Ministry of Sports and Heritage doesn’t have enough financial muscle to satisfy all national sports federations.
Besides Harambee Stars’ return to the Afcon finals, Kenya’s Under-23 team is still in the running for qualification to next year’s Tokyo Olympics with a match against Sudan the next hurdle.
The national women’s team will also compete in a newly-introduced Africa Nations League.
“We need at least $2 million to prepare for Afcon, which will include friendly matches, training camp and travel to the competition venue if we wish to realize our dream of going past the group stage,” Mwendwa said.
“The National Sports Fund didn’t take off in 2018 but it must take off now. The fund’s board must meet in this first week of January and start giving out money to federations.”
Nation Sport reached out to ministry officials to respond to Mwendwa’s concerns, but Sports Principal Secretary Kirimi Kaberia, who promised to call back as he was at a funeral, hadn’t reverted by press time.
Mwendwa noted that his federation currently has a debt of over Sh54 million accruing from, among others, the national women’s team’s abortive Afcon campaign and unpaid salaries for coaches and officials.
He noted that members of the national women’s team are owed allowances of Sh80,000 each and that the federation is yet to pay Utalii Hotel Sh7 million for the team’s accommodation ahead of the abortive outing to the continental tournament in Ghana.
Having already been assured of a ticket to the eight-nation Ghana tournament, Kenya was again withdrawn with the Confederation of African Football throwing out an appeal by FKF against Guinea Bissau for fielding an ineligible player.
“The government needs to tell us what budget they have and how much will be released each quarter so that we know whether to lower of increase our expectations.
“With steady funding, we can also be able to set minimum rates for payments of players by Premier League clubs and compel these clubs to maintain these payment standards.
“Without financing from the government, then we should forget any dreams of Harambee Stars qualifying for the 2022 Fifa World Cup,” he added.
