Harambee Starlets to miss 2024 Olympics qualifiers
Harambee Starlets players celebrate their opening goal during their 2022 African Women's Cup of Nations qualifying match against South Sudan at Nyayo National Stadium on October 23, 2021. Kenya won 7-1 to advance to the next stage on 15-1 aggregate.
What you need to know:
- Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Head of Communication Ken Okaka on Monday told Nation Sport that by November 28 last year when Kenya’s suspension was lifted by the world football governing body, teams had already registered for the competition.
- “When countries were confirming participation in the Olympics qualifiers last year, Kenya was under Fifa’s suspension. When the suspension was lifted, it was too late,” said Okaka.
Harambee Starlets have been locked out of the Paris 2024 Olympics qualifiers due to Kenya’s suspension by Fifa last year.
Kenya is not among the 25 countries that the Confederation of African Football (CAF) listed on Sunday to battle for the two slots to the Paris Olympics ahead of Tuesday's draw in Cairo.
They are; Benin, Botswana, Bukina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda , Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda and Zambia.
Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Head of Communication Ken Okaka on Monday told Nation Sport that by November 28 last year when Kenya’s suspension was lifted by the world football governing body, teams had already registered for the competition.
The deadline for registration was April 29, 2022.
“When countries were confirming participation in the Olympics qualifiers last year, Kenya was under Fifa’s suspension. When the suspension was lifted, it was too late,” said Okaka.
Fifa suspended Kenya on February 24 last year due to government interference in football management in the country.
This was after former Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed disbanded FKF over corruption allegations and abuse of office.
Mohamed replaced FKF with FKF Caretaker Committee, which later morphed into FKF Transition Committee.
It was after new Sports CS Ababu Namwamba reinstated the disbanded FKF into office on November 4 that Fifa lifted Kenya’s suspension.
Starlets have never qualified for the Olympics.
Their dream of gracing the Tokyo 2020 Olympics was crushed when they lost by a solitary goal to Zambia in the return leg of their fourth qualifying match.
The two teams had battled to a 2-2 draw in the first leg encounter in Nairobi.
According to CAF, the seven top ranked teams from the 2022 Women Africa Cup of Nations namely; South Africa (winners), Morocco, Zambia, Nigeria, Cameroon, Tunisia and Botswana will be exempted from the first round qualifiers. They will be joined in the second round qualifiers by the nine teams that will progress from the first round. eighteen teams will compete in the first round.
