Kenya’s Harambee Starlets Bundled Out of CECAFA Championships

• Harambee Starlets cannot participate in the regional tourney as the country is still under the FIFA suspension imposed earlier this year
• The CECAFA championship will be contested by eight teams from May 22nd at the Njeru Technical Centre in Uganda
• This is the second event that Starlets have been banned from after missing out on the Africa Women Cup of Nations qualifiers

Kenya Women's National Football team Harambee Starlets have been kicked out of the Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations(CECAFA) championships.

The tournament returns after a three-year break. Starlets are the defending champions but won't participate given the ongoing FIFA ban on all football activities in Kenya.

This year's championships will take place later this month and will run to next month. Uganda will host the tournament.

Eight teams will take part and have been drawn into two groups. Hosts Uganda will headline Group A with Rwanda, Burundi and Djibouti taking the other places.

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Group B will have Tanzania, Ethiopia, South Sudan and Zanzibar. The competition will run from May 22nd to June 5th.

According to Standard Sports, Jenitrix Shikangwa was the standout performer in the last edition of the tournament. She was at hand to help Kenya beat Tanzania in the final. She now plies her professional trade in Turkey.

Starlets missed out on AWCON too

This is the second event that the Ladies' team will sit out on as the FIFA ban rages on. Earlier this year, Starlets missed an opportunity to participate in the Africa Women Cup of Nations qualifiers. Their opponents Uganda were subsequently given a walkover and a direct ticket.

The AWCON will take place in Morocco with the top four teams qualifying automatically for the Women's World Cup slated for next year in New Zealand.

The impasse between the government and FIFA will also claim Harambee Stars. Stars have a few weeks to get ready for their AFCON qualifier against Cameroon but there is no recognised team in office.

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Government to give directions this week

Sports Brief had reported that the Cabinet Secretary for Sports Amina Mohamed will give directions on the way forward on Thursday.

The Cabinet Secretary was speaking after receiving the recommendations of the Caretaker Committee that has been in office for the last six months.

The Committee under retired judge Aaron Ringera recommended a full amendment of the Football Kenya Federation constitution. The committee wants the constitution to be drafted in line with the Kenya Sports Act of 2013.