Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Caretaker Committee has dismissed reports that Harambee Starlets has withdrawn from the CAF competition.
In a letter dated January 29, the FKF Caretaker Committee led by Justice (rtd) Aaron Ringera noted that Kenya will participate in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match against Uganda.
“This is to inform the confederation of African Football CAF that Kenya has not withdrawn from the Afcon qualifier against Uganda scheduled to be played on February 17, in Kampala with a return leg on February 24, in Nairobi.
“The caretaker committee is aware of a letter written to CAF withdrawing Kenya from the tournament. The FKF caretaker committee is working to resolve the matter as a matter of agency,” part of the statement read.
Justice Ringera pointed out that the women's national team are currently in camp as they prepare for the fixtures.
“We would like to assure Kenyans, Ugandans and CAF that all measures will be put in place to ensure that the match goes on as planned,” The letter read.
Also, the Ministry of Sports in Kenya refuted the details of the letter written to CAF by FKF CEO Barry Otieno.
“The Harambee Starlets have worked very hard to get to the last hurdle to the AWCON finals in Morocco later in the year and any attempt to interfere with that must be condemned and not be allowed to succeed,” the statement read.
The ministry has pointed out that anyone found to have been involved in any such attempt will be held fully accountable.
“I wish to assure all stakeholders that the Ministry is doing everything possible To contact the relevant authorities at the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and the world football body, FIFA. Harambee Starlets will continue with their preparations as we seek to correct this misrepresentation,” the statement by CS Amina Mohamed read.
Embattled FKF CEO, Barry Otieno, told CAF that the federation was not cable to oversee the match due to the wrangles between it and the FKF caretaker committee structured by CS Amina.
“In view of the above and taking into consideration the existing government directive taking over all footballing activities. The federation Is unable to independently plan and successfully execute any international matches which include upcoming Kenya vs Uganda Africa Women Cup of Nations (AWCON) 2022 qualifier matches, scheduled to take place within February 14, 2022, to February 23, 2022, FIFA window," the letter by Otieno claimed.