- Kenya has been suspended from February this year
- CS Namwamba fulfilled FIFA’s conditions
- His predecessor had disbanded the Federation
Kenya is back to playing international football after world governing body FIFA on Monday afternoon lifted the indefinite suspension slapped on the country in February.
In a letter addressed to Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Chief Executive Officer Barry Otieno, FIFA Secretary General Fatma Samoura said they were satisfied with the conditions that were met and the assurances from the new Sports Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba.
“We would like to inform you that the situation of the FF was submitted to the Bureau of the FIFA Council (hereinafter: the Bureau) for consideration and decision on 25 November 2022,” a letter from Samoura read.
It added; “On this occasion, the Bureau was informed of the official letter dated 4 November 2022 from the FF General Secretary Barry Otieno to FIFA, confirming that the Kenyan government as represented by the newly appointed Cabinet Secretary for Sports, the Hon. Ababu Namwamba, had reinstated the FF Executive Committee with immediate effect.”
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“The Bureau also noted that the FF General Secretary further asserted that the FKF offices had been handed back to the association’s elected leadership.”
“In view of these circumstances, the Bureau of the Council decided on 25 November 2022 to lift the suspension of the FF with immediate effect.”
Samoura’s letter has further stated that a FIFA-CAF mission will be deployed to Nairobi in order to define the next steps for the Federation and to also meet with the newly appointed Cabinet Secretary for Sports.
Kenya was suspended by FIFA in February this year due to government interference after former CS Amina Mohamed disbanded the Federation over alleged embezzlement of funds.
She further went on to create a caretaker committee in lieu to the Federation and despite warning from FIFA, she did not budge.
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At the end, FIFA made the decision to suspend Kenya in February and since then, the former CS made no effort to try and salvage the situation. This led to Kenya missing all international matches this year.
When the new CS Ababu came on board, he immediately started off talks towards finding a solution, meeting with different stakeholders and initiating a conversation with FIFA as well.
He finally made the decision to reinstate the Federation officials, and wrote to FIFA.
Last week, Namwamba was in Doha, Qatar, to meet up with FIFA boss Gianni Infantino and SG Samoura, where further consultations were held.
The lifting of the FIFA ban is a huge relief for Kenyan football, but the country will have to stay out of international matches for most of the next 12 months. Harambee Stars are not in the qualifiers for the 2023 AFCON, while the women’s team did not play the qualifiers for this year’s WAFCON.
At the same time, Kenyan teams also didn’t play in the CAF Champions League and the age grade teams (U17, 20 and 23) did not participate in the regional qualifiers for the Cup of Nations.
Nonetheless, it is a positive step towards the rebuilding of Kenyan football.
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