With just three days to go until the start of the Women’s African Nations Volleyball Championship at the Moi International Sports Centre in Kasarani, all is not well in the Malkia Strikers camp.
The players went on go-slow on Wednesday and have given the Kenya Volleyball Federation (KVF) two days to address their grievances, which include delayed payment of their allowances. Otherwise, they will leave the training camp altogether.
Despite having been in training for over three weeks, the team has not yet received their allowances or training kit, which is making their stay in camp increasingly difficult as the African championships draw closer.
Meanwhile, the players claim that they have not played any meaningful friendly matches, whereas some of their rivals have held training camps and played friendly matches in other countries, including in Europe.
The camp, which started on July 26, initially had 28 players before head coach Geoffrey Omondi reduced it to 20 players on August 7, and then to the final squad of 14 players last Saturday.
The championship has drawn 16 teams and will also serve as a qualifier for the 2027 FIVB Women’s Volleyball World Cup, which will be co-hosted by Canada and the US, as well as the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.
Malkia Strikers, the defending champions and most successful team in the continental contest, are seeking their 11th title.
They are also aiming for their fifth Olympic Games appearance and their seventh FIVB Women’s Volleyball World Cup show.
The top three teams from the championship will qualify for the World Cup, while the winner will secure Africa’s sole place at the 2028 LA Olympics.
“We have met with the team management and told them to pass on the message to Kenya Volleyball Federation (KVF). We won’t accept this any longer,” said a player, who wished to remain anonymous fearing reprisals.
The players said that nobody had informed them of their allowances or whether they would be provided with kit.
“We’ve been using our respective clubs’ training kits, which is embarrassing at our level,” said another player. “As the national team, we feel neglected. We have no basic training equipment.”
“The environment here is not conducive for a team competing for places in the World Cup and Olympic Games,” said another player. This is not how players should be treated.
The players said that they have given their all in training, and that KVF and the government should fulfil their responsibilities as the host nation.
“We don’t want to reach a situation where we stage protests like the Harambee Starlets did before the Africa Cup of Nations in Rabat, Morocco. It’s demoralising, to say the least,” said another player.
They added that they were fortunate to still be in good shape, given that the local leagues ended just days before the national team camp started at Kasarani.
“We can’t keep threatening to that things can work. We can’t keep killing the goose that lays the golden eggs,” said a player.
In last year’s FIVB Women’s World Championships in Thailand, the Malkia Strikers players posted a video on social media demanding their allowances.
In the video, the players made an emotional appeal to President William Ruto and the Ministry of Sports regarding unpaid dues. The video triggered an uproar, with Kenyans demanding action. KVF and the ministry acted fast to pay the allowances within 24 hours.
KVF deputy president Paul Bitok yesterday said the allowances had been delayed due to procedures at the Ministry of Sports, and that the team was due to receive training kits from the National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOC-K) last evening.
“We will get more training kits from our sponsors as the championship approaches,” Bitok said.
Meanwhile, Cameroon’s Indomitable Lionesses held an intensive, two-week high-performance training camp in Turkey, playing build-up matches against top-tier Turkish clubs.
Kenya has hosted the championship five times, winning four of them: in 2007 and then again in 2011, 2013 and 2015.
The country did not win again until 2023, when they beat Egypt 3–0 in the final in Cameroon to secure their place at the 2024 Paris Olympics. They had lost to Cameroon in the final during the 2017, 2019 and 2021 editions.
The Malkia Strikers are seeking to qualify for the Olympics for the fifth time, following their appearances in Sydney in 2000, Athens in 2004, and Tokyo in 2020, as well as Paris in 2024.
