FKF bar Bandari from Mapinduzi Cup
Bandari FC players celebrate their second goal against Shabana FC during their FKF Premier League match at KPA Mbaraki grounds in Mombasa on November 5, 2023.
What you need to know:
- Bandari in early December landed an invite to compete in this competition, which has attracted some top teams from Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda, at the refurbished Amaani Stadium.
- This annual tournament, which is held to commemorate Revolution Day on the island, is set to take place between December 28 to January 13, 2024.
Bandari FC’s venture to Zanzibar to compete at the Mapinduzi Cup has hit a snag after the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) failed to sanction the trip.
Bandari vice chairman Twaha Mbarak confirmed the stance in an interview with Nation Sport.
He said: “The federation has told us participating in the tournament will affect the smooth running of the league."
“But we had made arrangements. If we made it to the final (of the tournament), only one league assignment against Nzoia (Sugar) would have been affected. I’d reached out with a proposal on how to reschedule the match and our opponents had no problem with that.”
Bandari had in early December landed an invite to compete in this competition, which has attracted some top teams from Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda at the refurbished Amaani Stadium.
This annual tournament, which is held to commemorate Revolution Day on the island, is set to take place between December 28 to January 13, 2024.
The tournament organisers had pooled Bandari against Tanzanian giants Yanga SC, hosts KVZ and Burundian bigwigs Vital ‘O’.
Bandari coach John Baraza told Nation Sport in a separate interview that he was keen to use this tournament to expose his players on the continental stage and recharge ahead of the second leg of the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Premier League fixtures.
Following a last-gasp loss to Gor Mahia on December 23, Bandari are currently ranked sixth on the league standings with 26 points from 16 matches.
Thus, Bandari will potentially miss out on the possibility of competing against some of the seasoned teams in the region including Tanzanian sides Simba SC, Azam and Singida Big Stars, hosts Chipukizi, Mlandege and Jamhuri, plus tax collectors Uganda Revenue Authority, managed by former international David Obua.
It is the second time in as many months that FKF have failed to sanction a friendly involving a Kenyan side and a team from the region.
In November 2023, FKF stopped a friendly pitting Gor Mahia against Azam FC in Nairobi.
