Caretaker Committee boss concedes defeat in Harambee Starlets AWCON saga

FKF Caretaker Chairman Aaron Ringera has for the first time admitted that Kenya will not play Uganda in the African Women’s Cup of Nations (AWCON) final qualification round. The tournament is slated for August in Morocco.

Harambee Starlets’ hopes of playing in AWCON were dashed last month when CAF announced that it had handed Uganda a walkover after Kenya confirmed that it was not in a position to play their neighbours in the final qualification phase.

This was a culmination of the push and pull currently bewildering Kenyan football. It started with the disbandment of FKF and the installation of the Caretaker Committee to run football in the country for the next six months before paving way for elections.

Despite CAF Confirming the cancellation of the game, the Caretaker Committee has continued to keep players in camp preparing for the game. Last week they wrote to FIFA seeking a reversal of CAF’s decision but the world football governing body is yet to respond to their demand and with first leg due in three days’ time, Kenya hopes of featung in a second AWCON and an opportunity of playing in the 2023 World Cup have all but vanished.

The Caretaker had maintained a brave face but Ringera now admits that it is a done deal.

“With CAF having notified Uganda of their qualification, it will take high level intervention in line with CAF provisions to reverse the unfortunate letter. Hopefully the relevant government agencies will deal with those who perpetrated the unpatriotic scheme,” he said in an interview with the Sunday Nation.

He went on to slam former FKF CEO Barry Otieno for lacking patriotism.

“This is undoubtedly unfortunate. Writing to CAF to purporting that Kenya was unable to host the fixture was a clear demonstration of lack of patriotism, impunity and the hallmark of the decay of our beloved game, football,” he added.