Irked CS Amina hopeful Harambee Starlets will still play Uganda

Sports Cabinet Secretary Amb. Amina Mohamed still holds a glimmer of hope that Harambee Starlets’ Africa Women Cup of Nations (AWCON) qualifier against Uganda’s Crested Cranes will go ahead.

Africa’s football governing body, CAF already issued a communication cancelling the match following an official letter from the disbanded Football Kenya Federation (FKF).

Former FKF CEO Barry Otieno responded to a letter from CAF noting that the federation is unable to independently plan and successfully execute any international matches.

Amina who visited the Harambee Starlets in camp was still hopeful that the match will go ahead as planned as they seek ways to reinstate the clash.

“We are waiting for a response, I'm still hopeful, I think a mess was made. Someone wrote to pull our girls out of the tournament because they were going and those that did that damage will correct it.

Kenyans are unforgiving and they are very upset that this has happened, the girls have done nothing wrong, actually, they have represented us well, they have worked hard and are in camp now,” said Amina.

Football Kenya Federation Caretaker Committee chairman Judge (Rtd) Aaron Ringera also recently held a press conference reiterating that the match would proceed with the first leg originally slated for Thursday 17 February and the return leg five days later.

Amina was angered by the letter sent to CAF terming the move as irresponsible and unacceptable adding the girls are also distraught by the cancellation of the match.

“None of the girls has any complaints, we have resourced them well so I think that was totally irresponsible and unacceptable for a Kenyan to pull the girls out of a tournament, we are hoping people need to do what is to be done and they will regret what they did and correct it.

“We need corrective measures to be taken right now so that these girls can continue training but obviously I'm disappointed and very very angry, I spoke to the girls and they are very hurt,” added Amina.

The move means that the Ugandans have progressed to the AWCON finals, joining hosts Morocco as the only teams to have qualified for the continental showpiece that will be held in July.