Weekly Buzz: Light at the end of tunnel as Ababu reinstates FKF NEC
Reading Time: 3min | Mon. 07.11.22. | 15:00
These news and events marked the past week
During his vetting, Ababu Namwamba promised to unlock the football stalemate should he assume the office of the Cabinet Secretary Youth Affairs, Sports and Arts.
True to his word, the youthful CS took a week to reach out to the world’s governing body and the ousted Football Kenya Federation officials with an aim of returning the game to normalcy.
The federation was disbanded in November last year by former CS Amina Mohamed leading to the suspension of the country from international football. FIFA set a number of irreducible minimums to be met if Kenya was to be admitted back to international football and key among them was reinstating the FKF officials.
That is exactly what Ababu did last weekend much to the delight of the local football fraternity that had been longing for that development.
Reinstating the Executive Committee and allowing them to freely conduct business from the Goal Project offices opens the path to the uplifting of the suspension that has suppressed the development of the game.
There is hope that local clubs will play in a sanctioned league in the new season and the national teams will be back in action.
Tough weekend for Shujaa and Simbas
The national rugby sides in the country endured a torrid weekend on various assignments as both the 7s and the 15s sides lost all their games.
For the Shujaa, the team finished in last place in the season opening 2023 HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series staged in Hong Kong after losing all their five games against Ireland, Argentina, Canada, New Zealand and Uruguay.
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On the other hand, Kenya Simbas’ hopes of making it to a first ever Rugby World Cup tournament were dealt a heavy blow on Sunday afternoon as the men’s national rugby 15s side succumbed to a 68-14 defeat at the hands of USA in the 2023 Rugby World Cup Final Qualification Tournament (The Repechage) currently ongoing in Dubai.
The result meant that the Paul Odera coach side are reliant on favours from other teams and need to win their remaining two matches against Portugal and Hong Kong if they are to pull the rabbit out of the hole.
Gerard Pique bids farewell
It was a surprise for many and a relief for some people at Barcelona when their long-serving defender Gerard Pique announced his retirement from professional football. Even though he had more than a year of his lucrative contract at Camp Nou, he bowed under immense pressure from club structures and decided enough was enough.
He forgave around $50 million and thus helped the club find a way out of the financial crisis. Pique played his last match for the Catalans in the 2-0 win over Almeria on Sunday night. He was replaced a few minutes from time in an emotional moment that saw many tears roll down Barca-loving people's cheeks. Injuries hamper World Cup plans for big stars
Fitness problems disrupt World Cup hopefuls
World Cup is fast approaching, but it will come too soon for some players. Belgian fans are sweating over the fitness of their two forwards, Romelu Lukaku and Eden Hazard. England will have to make do without left-back Ben Chilwell and, most likely, right-back Reece James. German striker Timo Werner has already announced that he'll watch his teammates from his living room. World champions France will be without Paul Pogba and N'Golo Kante, and Portugal will sorely miss Pedro Neto and Diogo Jota.
South Korea captain Son Heung-min sustained a painful facial fracture in his team's dramatic win at Marseille last week. He'll have to have surgery and will almost certainly wear a protective mask in the tournament. The list of doubtfuls includes Argentina's Paulo Dybala and Angel Di Maria, England's Kyle Phillips and Kyle Walker, Uruguay's Ronald Araujo and a few more.
