Why Harambee Stars will camp in France
What you need to know:
- As a result, Stars, who needed a win to proceed, could earn a direct ticket should the situation down in Freetown fail to be resolved by the end of the qualifiers in March
- Speaking during the popular weekly NTV TopSport show on Saturday, Mwendwa said they’ve agreed with the Sports ministry to organize and reserve the camping site in January
- Mwendwa urged Stars fans not to pop the champagne yet until Caf officially clarifies the fate of Sierra Leone
Plans for Harambee Stars to pitch a three-week camp in France ahead of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) tournament are at an advanced stage, according to Football Kenya Federation (FKF) president Nick Mwendwa.
Stars are on the brink of qualifying for the finals after a 15-year absence.
They top group “F” on seven points after four matches. Sebastien Migne's charges were to host Sierra Leone on Sunday in round five of the qualifiers but the fixture was cancelled by the Confederation of Africa Football (Caf) due to the West African nation’s suspension by Fifa.
As a result, Stars, who needed a win to proceed, could earn a direct ticket should the situation down in Freetown fail to be resolved by the end of the qualifiers in March.
Speaking during the popular weekly NTV TopSport show on Saturday, Mwendwa said they’ve agreed with the Sports ministry to organize and reserve the camping site in January.
“Most African countries camp in France and so when we are there, we shall have an opportunity to play build up matches with them,” said Mwendwa.
“The coach, you understand he is from France, will find it easy handling players in a familiar situation and knows how that will be organized,” he added.
Mwendwa urged Stars fans not to pop the champagne yet until Caf officially clarifies the fate of Sierra Leone.
“Caf only wrote to us notifying of the cancellation of our match with Sierra Leone but as it stands we can’t play them with one international window to the finals. After March next year we shall be thinking of preparing for Afcon,” explained Mwendwa.
On Harambee Starlets last-minute quest to grace the 2018 Africa Women Cup of Nations in Ghana, Mwendwa said they’ve moved on and are determined to further develop women football.
“Fifa has a pilot programme where they’ve given us Sh100 million for women football, having done well since 2016, we intend to develop further the game from grassroots,” he offered.
“We want to train so many ladies as coaches and set up age group categories as a conveyor belt to the senior ladies team.”
