NAIROBI, Kenya, April 14- Kenya improved by four places in the latest Fifa/Coca-Cola World Ranking to nestle in at 124th.
Harambee Stars first victory at an African Nations Cup qualifier against Angola (2-1) for almost two years sandwiched between two friendly loses to South Africa (2-0) and Nigeria (3-0) occasioned the slight rise up the rankings.
Kenya is placed 34th in Africa in the log where Ghana leads the charts followed Ivory Coast and continental champions, Egypt. World and European titleholders, Spain continues to lead the global standings with Ghana ranked 15th.
With Football Kenya elections set for this month, release of the rankings is a tacit reminder of the onerous task of lifting the country out of the lowly positioning that awaits the new office holders.
“We must have organised leadership of football in this country. We cannot be ranked below 100, it has never happened for Kenya to sink so low in football rankings. I attribute this largely to the mess that we have in football leadership,” Gor Mahia chairman, Ambrose Rachier said.
He added: “That is why we welcome whole heartedly the efforts that are being done to clean up leadership and do elections that should usher in responsible leadership in football.”
On Wednesday, the Independent Election Board (IEB) mandated to come up with the framework for national, branch and sub-branch Football Kenya elections released the Fifa and government Electoral Code of Conduct that will govern the eagerly awaited polls.
However, some of the spelt guidelines which locked out some candidates for the chairmanship of the national football governing body elicited sharp reactions from those affected.
Football Kenya Limited chair, Mohammed Hatimy who is technically barred from the polls since he has a corruption court case has petitioned Fifa in protest while Hussein Mohammed, locked out for being 34-years-old, short of the 35 stipulated for eligibility to run for the top post has set in motion an appeal process.
“I will appeal to IEB and Fifa since I believe the board duped the world body into putting the age restrictions to deny some of us the chance to contest. They claim to have held discussions with all stakeholders and we know they never left Nairobi,” Mohammed told Capital in The Morning show.
“My lawyers are working on all available channels but this is not what we want, many cases. I believe Fifa will see the sense and throw this condition and other contentious issues away so that we can have a free and fair process,” he added.
“My lawyers are working on all available channels but this is not what we want, many cases. I believe Fifa will see the sense and throw this condition and other contentious issues away so that we can have a free and fair process,” he added.
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