NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 28 – Sports Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba has set 2030 as the year in which he hopes the national football team make their debut at the World Cup.
Namwamba, who was in Doha, Qatar in the preceding week, expressed his dismay that Kenya’s most talented players are missing from football’s biggest bonanza.
“We have a vision 2030 that at the very minimum, Kenya must participate at the World Cup in 2030. If we can make it to the 2026 World Cup, that would be great but we are being realistic that with the right investment and planning, we can get Harambee Stars to the World Cup in 2030,” Namwamba said.
The CS added: “While in Doha, to meet Fifa officials, I took time to watch a number of games (World Cup matches). From what I saw, on the pitch, that is a stage I want our Kenyan boys to play. It is unfortunate that our best player, Michael Olunga, is only participating in Qatar as a fan.”
Namwamba further outlined his vision for Kenyan sports, noting that plans are afoot to launch a mega-strategy to spot, develop and nurture talent .
“We are very keen on developing a programme for talent spotting and development. You are going to see a lot of work going on around the Kenya Academy of Sports. Very soon I will be inviting you to a mega launch of a programme on how to spot and develop talent,” the CS revealed.
He was speaking in the aftermath of world football governing body, Fifa’s announcement that it had lifted its suspension on Kenyan football.
In a letter released Monday morning, Fifa Secretary Fatma Samoura said the decision to bring Kenya back to the football fold had been influenced by the reinstatement of Fkf executive committee as well as reopening of the federation’s office at Kasarani.
While reveling in the latest turn of events, Namwamba clarified that the government will not compromise on integrity, accountability and transparency of federations in the country.
“In my discussions with Fifa and Caf, made it very clear that Kenyan football is not in the best of state. We have a very big job to lift Kenyan football back and even make it better than it has ever been,” he said.
Namwamba added: “I made it very clear to Fifa and Caf that there are issues outstanding with regards to integrity, accountability and transparency. We will not close our eyes to these issues touching on FKF and any other federation.”
The CS is expected to meet FKF’s top brass to review the last one year of football in the country as well as to chart the way forward.