Stars' Dilemma - KENYA

Harambee Stars are scheduled to report to camp tomorrow in readiness for their World Cup qualifier against Cape Verde on Friday, November 13 at Nyayo Stadium, Nairobi.

The return leg will played away in Praia on November 17. Football Kenya Federation said they had submitted all the plans and budgets thereof to the Ministry of Sport to facilitate the Stars’ smooth preparations ahead of the crucial match, which will serve as the final hurdle to enter the Group Stage of 2018 World Cup qualifiers.

“The federation forwarded the notification of the match and the respective budget for both the home and away legs vide a letter dated October 23, 2015, addressed to the Principal Secretary, with a copy to the Cabinet Secretary, Chairman and Acting Director General of Sports Kenya Fred Muteti.

FKF also furnished the ministry with the list of foreign-based players called up in the team and the destinations they will be travelling from to enable the ministry send them tickets in good time,” stated a statement from the federation.

The statement revealed that team’s training programme was also forwarded to the ministry vide a letter dated October 17 to enable Sports Kenya plan to accommodate the team for training sessions at the facilities under their watch, namely Nyayo National Stadium and the Safaricom Stadium (Kasarani).

In response to the request for training grounds, FKF received a letter dated September 17 and October 28 from Sports Kenya requiring the federation to pay up front 100 percent of the stadium hire fees with an attached invoice of Sh32,000 and broadcasting fee of Sh250,000.

“FKF is expressing its concern that the Ministry of Sports and Sports Kenya are yet to respond to any of our correspondence with only three days left before the beginning of the training camp to prepare for the crucial fixture. Consequently, the federation is appealing to the government through the line ministry to urgently take up the matter and ensure the team is facilitated to prepare for the match,” FKF statement said.

Due to the complexity of travelling to Cape Verde, the federation has already made travel plans with national carrier, Kenya Airways, which they said can’t be concluded without making payment and they are therefore concerned that any further delay may lead to last-minute frustrations that can distract the focus of the team.

During Stars last fixture against Mauritius, the team was undermined by the absence of key players like Arnold Origi who could not travel due to lack of air ticket.