NAIROBI, Kenya, May 19- Harambee Stars Head Coach Francis Kimanzi will on name his line-up to face Malawi in their first match of the Group J 2014 World Cup qualifiers on Tuesday.
The head coach was mum about his plans for the team at a media briefing on Saturday opting to delay the unveiling of his squad that will face The Flames on June 2 at the refurbished Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani.
At the centre of interest was whether Kimanzi would include captain Dennis Oliech whose fate in the side hangs in the balance after he announced his retirement from international football among the foreign based players in his line-up.
Football Kenya Federation (FKF) boss Sam Nyamweya ducked that question when pressed by the media saying all overseas footballers in the coach’s plans were available for selection including the skipper who quit the side over a row with the team sponsors East Africa Breweries Limited (EABL).
“There is no need to panic, these players are already around, when the list is released they will be part of the squad but that will have to be done by Kimanzi himself,” said Nyamweya.
“I really can’t divulge much, let me answer all your queries next week when I unveil the full squad,” Kimanzi told Capital Sport when reached for comment.
French Ligue 1 AJ Auxerre forward Oliech announced his retirement from national duty over the use of his image in an EABL billboard without his consent while first choice regular custodian Arnold Origi also stepped down from the side in January but Kimanzi has been in contact to urge him to rescind the decision.
Italian Parma AC midfielder McDonald Mariga is ruled out for several months after he picked up a knee injury playing for his Serie A side in April.
Meanwhile, in a first of its kind, electronic ticketing will be used for the tie which will be handled by reputed local ticketing company KAPS Limited.
Nyamweya said the move was aimed at improving efficiency with security been paramount as he outlined the plans for the day.
“Besides the introduction of the e-tickets, we will be deploying over 1000 police officers include those from anti terrorism unit during the match day as we embark on the ambitious effort to get fans back into the stadium”
“We intend to make matches of this nature a family event where all can witness our national team play without any fear of their security or hooliganism,” added Nyamweya.
The sale of the tickets whose prices will vary between Sh300 for the terraces and Sh3000 for the VIP section will begin from next week at the various KAPS outlets in Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu.
In their last encounter, Malawi who will arrive in the country on Thursday defeated Kenya 2-0 in the opening match of the 2011 Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup regional tournament.
After the Malawi fixture, Kenya will travel to Namibia for their second qualifier on June 9 before they taking a 2-1 advantage away to face Togo on June 15 in their second leg tie of their 2013 Africa Nations Cup knock-out qualifier.
Kenya beat Togo in the first leg played at the Nyayo Stadium in February where their star striker Emmanuel Adebayor was missing while Mariga abandoned the team in the last minute claiming a refund of travel expenses he had incurred on international duty.
Malawi and Togo have already named their squads for the two upcoming fixtures against Stars.
