Men’s team locked out of Kasarani facility just days to Games qualifiers
What you need to know:
- The other indoor facility located at Nyayo Stadium is used for basketball games. Although volleyball is formally referred to as an indoor sport by global body FIVB, Kenya lacks the required infrastructure to host volleyball matches.
- “The indoor Arena has been booked for a huge event by Equity Bank that will last the whole week,” Sports Kenya Public Relations boss Rakki Asman confirmed to Daily Nation Sport Monday.
The national men’s volleyball team maybe forced to train at an outdoor facility just days before the team launches its campaign to qualify for the All Africa Games.
This follows the unavailability of the Safaricom Indoor Arena at Kasarani which is one of the two available government-owned indoor facilities in Nairobi.
The other indoor facility located at Nyayo Stadium is used for basketball games. Although volleyball is formally referred to as an indoor sport by global body FIVB, Kenya lacks the required infrastructure to host volleyball matches.
INDOOR ARENA BOOKED
“The indoor Arena has been booked for a huge event by Equity Bank that will last the whole week,” Sports Kenya Public Relations boss Rakki Asman confirmed to Daily Nation Sport Monday.
Kenya, who will be competing against hosts Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania and Burundi for the sole ticket reserved for Zone Five for the continental games set for Congo Brazzaville in September, will have to train under conditions completely different to the environment in which they will compete in the qualifiers set for Kigali starting this weekend.
“We will have to train outdoor at Nyayo which is not appropriate” the team’s coach Geoffrey Omondi said.
The team will be bolstered by the arrival of its most experienced player in Phillip Maiyo, who is expected in the country tomorrow.
The Qatar-based attacker has been in great form this season, helping his side Al Arabi clinch both the Qatar league and Emir tournament.
Omondi will also bank on Mike Chemos, formerly based in Japan. The men’s team is hoping to join their female counterparts who have qualified for the Games after the qualifiers played in Kampala last week.
