Harambee Starlets' Awcon participation in limbo as government delay funds

Kenya's Harambee Starlets might not take part in the forthcoming Africa Women’s Cup of Nation finals in Ghana.

The situation, according to FKF president Nick Mwendwa, has been brought about by the lethargic nature in which the government is handling the women's team preparation.

Mwendwa now says that the federation will have no option but to pull out of the bi-annual tournament, if the government fails to commit her facilitation of the team, by releasing the funds latest Tuesday next week.

The federation requires over Sh80 million to prepare both the Starlets, the Emerging Stars and the Harambee Stars for the upcoming assignments.

Starlets are set to represent the country in the Awcon in Ghana from November 17th, but the team’s preparation has not been a smooth one as the federation lacks resources for adequate groundwork.

Before the finals, Starlets are set to face off with Ghana in an International friendly match on Wednesday. This will be preceded by the Under 23 men's team taking on Mauritius in the age group qualifiers while Harambee Stars are also set to face off with Sierra Leone in the Afcon qualifiers.

“We will have three teams in camp (Harambee Starlets, Harambee Stars, and the Emerging Stars) at around the same time, which comes along with a KES 83 Million financial obligation. My appeal to Government is to help us honor our liabilities to enable the teams to honor these assignments,” Mwendwa lamented.

Mwendwa further called on Government to see to it that the Sports Fund is fully operationalized as a long-term funding strategy for the National teams.

“The Sports fund has not fully been operationalized, yet it could be a long-term funding strategy for our National Teams. I understand that Parliament has given the fund the go ahead, and I am appealing to Treasury as well as the Ministry of Sports to fully operationalize it,” he concluded.