Ringera's FKF team considering appointing Amrouche or Vaz Pinto as Harambee Stars coach

Football Kenya Federation caretaker committee is considering appointing either Adel Amrouche or Manuel Vaz Pinto as head coach for the national team, Harambee Stars.

The senior team has no coach at the moment after Engin Firat - who was handed a two-month contract by Nick Mwendwa's administration - left after guiding the team in World Cup qualifiers against Mali, Rwanda, and Uganda.

The Turkish coach was specifically given the reigns to guide Harambee Stars through the qualifiers - which he won against Rwanda, drew against Uganda and lost to Mali - but talks of a contract extension were complicated when Mwendwa's regime was ended by the Ministry of Sports.

Mwendwa and the FKF national executive committee were removed from office by the government on allegations of graft, paving the way for the appointment of the normalisation committee led by retired judge, Aaron Ringera.

The committee, who are running the leagues also, is set to appoint Firat's successor, and Amrouche - who was Kenya's coach in 2013 and 2014 - and Vaz Pinto, ex-Gor Mahia tactician, are the top candidates to be considered for appointment.

Harambee Stars Revival

"Since we came into the office, we have always agreed that having top coaches for the national sides should be our priority," an official in the interim body, who spoke anonymously, told GOAL.

"We are alive to the fact that the national team has been performing badly, and the nation is hopeful that one day Harambee Stars will wake up and start roaring again. The best way to make sure that happens is to appoint a coach who understands not only the national team but also the clubs that act as feeders.

Goal Kenya.

"The names you have mentioned have been mooted over a number of meetings we have held, and they are actually our top candidates. They also meet the qualifications I mentioned above; knowledge of the national team, the league and clubs.

"Our chairman [Ringera] was quite categorical when we assumed office that our main objective is to revive the national team, and I can assure you that we will take every step to ensure we achieve just that."

Amrouche - whose dismissal by FKF in 2014 occasioned a long-standing legal battle over wrongful termination of his contract - won the Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup with Harambee Stars in 2013.

On the other hand, Vaz Pinto, who was appointed in January this year, won the FA Cup with Gor Mahia before he left in July.