Harambee Starlets players during a sit in at the South African High Commission in Nairobi on July 15. PHOTO/Twitter
NAIROBI, July 15- National women’s team Harambee Starlets staged a sitting in the South African High Commission in Nairobi on Wednesday after their travel visas were delayed ahead of Saturday’s Rio 2016 Olympics away qualifier against Banyana Banyana.
Kenya qualified to play against the African women football giants after eliminating Botswana on away goals after a 2-2 aggregate score over both legs following a 1-0 home victory.
A bitter Football Kenya Federation (FKF) President, Sam Nyamweya, informed Capital Sport the delay was baffling since they had applied for them on time.
“We don’t know what is happening with them. We applied for the Visas last week and we were expecting to get them today (Wednesday). We give them visas here when they travel and I don’t understand why they have to force us to apply.
“Something should be done. It means we are not going tomorrow (Thursday) and we have to book a special flight at extra costs on Friday,” Nyamweya stated.
It is reported the Embassy wanted to issue the visas on Friday leaving the Starlets with only hours upon arrival to take on the pitch against their more fancied hosts.
“This is a national team with proper documentation and treating them this way raises a lot of suspicion of their intentions,” the FKF boss lamented.
“We have had problems with South Africa before, this is not the first time,” he went on.
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