April 24 – Kenya is on the verge of being banned from World Cup qualifiers saying they do not have the funds to meet today’s deadline to pay former coach Adel Amrouche (pictured).
Kenya’s football federation (FKF) say they are unable to pay Amrouche the money as ordered by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) last October.
They say they have been told by FIFA that they will be thrown out unless Amrouche agrees to an extension – which he has refused to do.
“It is not the end of the world to be out of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers,” FKF President Nick Mwendwa argued. “We don’t have money and with the Covid-19 situation we have players who are stuck right now who haven’t been paid salaries. It’s been deaf ears from government – which is understandable because there is a crisis.”
“We were told to pay the money by this Thursday but we have been unable to. We have written to FIFA and it is unlikely they will listen to us.”
“So I am telling Kenyans that it is highly likely we will not be competing in the Qatar World Cup qualifiers. This is unfortunate but … we have other competitions including the Africa Nations Cup qualification matches for both men and women, plus several youth competitions.”
The issue stems from the ruling by the CAS that Amrouche was wrongfully dismissed back in 2014 when he was sacked 18 months into a five-year tenure.
Amrouche initiated legal action that culminated in the million dollar award and told the BBC that he is not open to the idea of any extension.
“Agreement on extension would lead to the closure of the disciplinary proceedings without payment being guaranteed,” he said.
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Kenya has never participated in the World Cup finals but there was optimism the current group of players could make it out of their African qualifying group of Mali, Uganda and Rwanda.