Harambee Stars coach Firat teetering on the edge of exit
Harambee Stars head coach Engin Firat during a past press conference in Nairobi.
What you need to know:
- Under Engin Firat’s watch, Kenya failed to qualify for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.
- Kenya finished the campaign third in Group ‘J’ behind Cameroon and Zimbabwe.
Harambee Stars coach Engin Firat appeared to be moving closer to the exit door on Thursday, with Sports Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen hinting that he had set in motion the process of releasing the Turk from his contract for failing to meet set targets.
On Thursday, Murkomen told Nation Sport that he had taken up the matter with Football Kenya Federation (FKF).
“There is a clause in the contract that FKF signed with the coach that indicates that one of his (Firat’s) targets was to qualify for the 2025 African Cup of Nations, failure to which he is relieved of his duties,” Murkomen told Nation Sport on Thursday on phone.
“I confirm that the ministry is actively working on that, and that the resources the ministry is extending to FKF to fund the coach will be stopped once that phase is finalised,” Murkomen said of the fate of the 54-year-old Turkish coach.
Under Firat’s watch, Kenya failed to qualify for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, and was bundled out of the qualification process of the delayed 2024 African Cations Championships (CHAN).
Kenya was bundled out of the qualifiers of 2025 Afcon after finishing third in Group ‘J’ behind Cameroon and Zimbabwe.
Cameroon and Zimbabwe finished on top of the group and qualified to play in Africa’s premier national football team tournament.
Firat had initially said Kenya had been placed in a very easy group, adding that the country stood a good chance of qualifying for the tournament, which will be held in Morocco in 2025.
Details of Firat’s three-year contract, which ends in 2026, has been shrouded in secrecy.
According to estimates, the coach earns a monthly salary of between Sh1.5 million and Sh2 million.
Even as Murkomen said that the government would soon stop paying Firat’s salary, the coach has in the past indicated that he is owed money.
After Kenya had beaten Namibia 2-1 on September 10 in a 2025 Afcon qualifier match in South Africa, Firat said he is owed salary arrears running into nine months.
"I’m also not okay. If you don't pay the coach for nine months, even one dollar, then what do you want? I want people to stop criticizing the team. Now we have FKF elections, and everyone is making propaganda, even the ex-national team coach," Firat said after the match.
Firat was appointed Harambee Stars coach on September 2021. Initially, he was engaged on a two-month contract which was extended in early 2023 for three years to 2026.
He has been in charge of 23 matches with Kenya, winning seven matches, drawing the same number and losing nine.
On Monday, FKF Chief Executive Officer Patrick Korir told Nation Sport that the federation would review the coach’s performance in the qualifier matches, and take an appropriate decision.
