Budget headache hits FKF after Starlets Awcon reprieve

Football Football Federation (FKF) is engaging the Government for financial support to prepare Harambee Starlets for the forthcoming African Women Cup of Nations (Awcon), to be staged in Ghana next month.

Starlets qualified for the Awcon tournament following Equatorial Guinea’s disqualification on Wednesday from the competition, set for November 17-December 1 2018.

The women team had lost 3-2 on aggregate to the West Africa Nation in the final qualifying round, but an appeal was lodged by FKF thereafter over the eligibility of six players who played part in the qualifier.

With the reprieve coming just a month to the kickoff, the federation is running against time to raise funds to cater for the team.

“We are very happy with the CAF move to offer Starlets another chance to feature in the Awcon. The team needs to report to camp as soon as possible for preparations and we need money to do this.

“We believe the Government through the Ministry of Sports will offer the necessary support. Talks are ongoing and by Monday next week we should be in position to tell the way forward,” FKF Communications Director Barry Otieno told.

On the other hand the Starlets head coach David Ouma has welcomed the CAF move saying his team is way far better than it was in 2016 finals.

“I am very happy with the move; we will feature in the Awcon for the second time. The players we had in the last edition were young but now they are professional. We have four players now who playing abroad underscoring the strides have made since then. With good support we can do better,” offered Ouma.

Mary Kinuthia, Corazone Acquino, Teresa Engesha and Esse Mbeyu Akida are all featuring in foreign leagues, the latter being the latest to secure a European deal with Israel’s Ramat HaSharon.

The coach confirmed to have presented his proposed training schedule to FKF on Thursday.