CS Amina: We're in contact with Caf over Starlets issue

Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohammed Wednesday revealed that the government is in communication with the Confederation of African Football (CAF).

This follows the confusion brought about by a letter sent out withdrawing Harambee Starlets from the 2022 Africa Women Cup of Nations (Awcon) qualifiers

Starlets are due to face Uganda away in the first leg on February 13 and host the second leg on February 17.

On Wednesday, CS Mohammed paid a courtesy visit to the team that is currently in camp at the Moi International Sports Center, Kasarani.

Harambee Starlets' withdrawal gives Crested Cranes of Uganda an automatic pass into the main tournament that scheduled to take place in Morocco from July 2 to 23.

“We have a conversation that is ongoing and we are hoping that sooner rather than later, that confirmations will be made. But we are still preparing and you can see that the girls are still in camp and they will be here until they leave for Uganda when this is all resolved.

“The expectation obviously from all of us is that the girls will be on the flight to Uganda on time and after we will wait for Uganda to come back here so that we have the return match. We are optimistic and working really hard at it and we are having conversations with everybody who’s involved and we remain very hopeful,” said Mohammed.

The CS remains confident that Starlets will dominate both the qualifiers and the main tournament.

“My expectation is that they will do really well and they have a real opportunity to get to the top and maybe to the World Cup as well,” she added.

On January 29, it was revealed that a letter authored by the disbanded Football Kenya Federation (FKF) withdrew Harambee Starlets from the qualifiers.

“What happened was extremely unfortunate and I hope that everybody who was involved is regretting what they did and all I can do now is support what Kenyans are saying and that is to punish the culprits,” she said.

The Kenya women’s team advanced to the second round after hammering South Sudan 15-1 on aggregate in their first round qualifier staged at the Nyayo National Stadium in October.

Kenya last qualified for the continental competition in 2016, while Uganda’s last appearance was in 2000. 

The 2022 Awcon finals will also be used as the qualifiers for the 2023 Fifa Women’s World Cup.

The top four teams will qualify for the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.