Visa hitch forces Kenya Lionesses to miss Cameroon flight
From left: Kenya Lionesses players Natalie Akinyi, Victoria Reynolds and Celia Okumu upon their arrival at the JKIA on July 18, 2021.
What you need to know:
- Coach George Mayienga’s Kenya defeated Egypt 99-83 in the Zone Five final in July in Kigali where Rwanda and South Sudan were the other competitors.
- The Kenyan side will face Cameroon at 9pm on Saturday and Cape Verde at 10.00pm on Sunday in Group “A” matches.
- The best two teams in Cameroon will qualify for the 2022 Fiba Women's Basketball World Cup Qualifying Tournament.
The Kenya national women's basketball team Wednesday failed to travel to Cameroon ahead of Saturday's Fiba Afrobasket Championships due to visa hitches.
The Lionesses were scheduled to leave Nairobi at 4am on Wednesday, but got stranded after the Ethiopian Airlines they had booked, insisted they have to get the Cameroon visas before departure.
Kenya Basketball Federation (KBF) has allayed fears that the visa hitch experienced on Wednesday could put in danger the national women’s team opening match against Cameroon in Yaounde on Saturday.
“Our girls just relaxed today at their hotel after the visa hitch. The Cameroonian basketball federation is assisting us in sorting out this hitch,” said KBF Secretary General Ambrose Kisoi via phone on Wednesday afternoon.
“The bubble starts today (Wednesday) for three days. Our opening match is on Saturday kwa hivyo hakuna wasiwasi (so there’s no cause for worry)," he added.
Initially, the Lionesses planned to travel on Tuesday, but the travel date was moved to Wednesday after Fiba Africa changed the date for starting the bubble to Wednesday.
Had the Africa Zone Five champions traveled on Tuesday, Kisoi said, they would have been required to pay for their own hotel fees and “exposed them to health risks”.
Inquiries by Nation Sport to the Cameroonian Basketball Federation (FECABASKET) revealed that visa issuance is done on arrival.
According to FECABASKET Communications and Social Media Officer, Elango Vincent, the 11 foreign teams are supposed to be in Yaounde 48 hours before the tournament tips off. He further revealed that as of 3pm Wednesday, only Egypt had arrived in Yaounde.
Coach George Mayienga’s Kenya defeated Egypt 99-83 in the Zone Five final in July in Kigali where Rwanda and South Sudan were the other competitors.
The Kenyan side will face Cameroon at 9pm on Saturday and Cape Verde at 10.00pm on Sunday in Group “A” matches.
The best two teams in Cameroon will qualify for the 2022 Fiba Women's Basketball World Cup Qualifying tournament.
