Raila vows to ensure Harambee Stars play at the Fifa World Cup
Raila Odinga has described as ‘disappointing’ Kenya’s failed bid to qualify for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon.
The seasoned politician has also vowed to ensure he improves the standards of football in the country should he succeed President Uhuru Kenyatta in the August 2022 elections.
Speaking at an event where he met members of the Maa community and Mt Kenya Foundation at a Nairobi hotel, Odinga, a former footballer and fan, wondered how ‘small’ countries like Burkina Faso and Comoros Island managed to make it to Cameroon at the expense of Kenya’s Harambee Stars.
“Small islands like Comoros and countries like Burkina Faso are in Cameroon playing at the Nations Cup yet Kenya is not there. When the World Cup is staged, Kenya is never there. I pledge that when I get there, Kenya will play at the Nations Cup and World Cup,” vowed Odinga.
Kenya was eliminated from the running to play at the Nations Cup by Comoros and Egypt.
Harambee Stars also put up a poor show in her bid to grace the 2022 Fifa World Cup against Mali, Uganda and Rwanda.
The poor standards were among the reasons Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed disbanded Football Kenya Federation (FKF) and set up a committee to run the affairs of the sport in in the interim.
The changes affected FKF president Nick Mwendwa and his entire National Executive Committee (NEC) even though the sport’s world governing body Fifa has termed the move illegal.