Harambee Starlets coach Alex Alumirah has said that the team is in great shape and looking forward to playing Uganda in the Africa Womens Nations Cup (AWCON).
The first leg of the tie is scheduled for February 17, in Uganda with the return leg set for February 23, in Nairobi. CAF announced that the game was cancelled after a Kenyan representative from the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) wrote to the body lamenting that they were not able to oversee the match.
FKF caretaker committee, which was formed to replace FKF, however, countered, arguing that FKF was ousted and barred by the court to represent football matters in Kenya.
Despite the recent hiccups, Alumirah believes that the girls have not been distracted and the focus is all on the two-legged tie which will determine who qualifies for the main tournament to be played in Morocco later this year.
“Nothing has changed, training is okay and we are raring to go. To the best of my knowledge, we are still in this.
“On day one we had a few setbacks but everything has been sorted out so we will step up preparations for the Uganda task.
“Most of our foreign-based players who were called up are raring to go and each has expressed the desire to represent the country and qualify for the tournament once again, already some players have jetted in (Caroline Rufa, Marijoe Nekesa and Anita Adongo) and we expect more incomings in the next few days,” Alumirah pointed out.
Starlets have been in camp from Wednesday, February 26, and are keen to make it to Africa’s Premier Women football tournament that they have participated in twice.
There was one injury scare, with Vihiga Queens winger Violet Wanyonyi sitting out with a sore knee.
“Vivian was rested as a precaution but she will be ready by Wednesday, February 2, for the training session. Everybody else is in good shape,” Alumirah added.
In 2018, Harambee Starlets qualified for the Awcon tournament after Equatorial Guinea were found guilty of fielding an ineligible player. The West Africans had beaten Kenya 3-2 on aggregate.