Kenya lacks funds for regional soccer tournament

By Kimathi Kamau
 Kenya could fail to host the regional soccer tournament, CECAFE Senior Challenge Cup, after the country's government said Wednesday it had no funds to inject in the annual tournament.

Cabinet Secretary for Sports, Art and Culture, Hassan Wario, told journalists in Nairobi that the State was not willing to fund the tourney since, "we cannot isolate football from other sports since they all need funding."

"We realise the importance of organising such a tournament but sadly, we cannot get involved in it at this time," Wario added.

With a month to go before the Nov. 27 kick-off, Football Kenya Federation (FKF) are yet to find a title sponsor and the government was earmarked as the potential source to underwrite the costs of the tournament estimated at 2.36 million U.S. dollars.

FKF boss, Sam Nyamweya, remained optimistic the country would still stage the oldest football tournament in Africa.

"We are set to make some announcements soon and inspectors have passed all the venues fit to hold the tournament," he added.

When contacted, CECAFE Secretary General, Nicholas Musonye, declined to disclose whether a contingency plan was in place should Kenya fail to host the showpiece.

"We will wait for the final word on this matter from FKF," Musonye said. The event is scheduled to be held in the Kenyan cities of Nairobi and Kisumu as well as Machakos and Mumias towns.

Renovation work is going on in Kisumu and Machakos stadiums with FKF ensuring the facilities would be in place in the next fortnight.


Last year, Musonye engineered the moving of the tournament to Uganda in a dispute with Nyamweya over sponsorship that was brought to the attention of Confederation of African Football.