Nairobi News

NewsSports

FKF’s Mwendwa vows to stop 2018 women’s Africa Cup of Nations


Football Kenya Federation will seek to stop the 2018 women’s Africa Cup of Nations from taking place if Harambee Starlets are not allowed to take part in the competition.

Speaking exclusively to Nairobi News, FKF president Nick Mwendwa announced his body will on Thursday file a case at the Court Of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) seeking to overturn the Confederation of African Football’s decision to bar Starlets from competing at the continental championship.

This move comes after Caf on Wednesday reversed its own decision to replace Kenya with Equatorial Guinea at the Championship.

Based in Lausenne, Switzerland, CAS is the ultimate conflict resolution body in the world of sports.

AGGREGATE

Equatorial Guinea defeated Kenya 3-2 on aggregate to qualify for this competition in June 2018, but Kenya successfully filed a protest at Caf seeking to disqualify Equatorial Guinea from the Championship on the basis the Central Africans had fielded an ineligible player namely Anette Jacky Messomo.

“This is a complete joke,” Mwendwa blasted Caf’s Appeals committee.

“That lady is a Cameroonian and not from Equatorial Guinea. Now I am told they (Equatorial Guinea) came with new papers and yet the laws are clear. You cannot come up with new evidence during that time of Appeal.”

“We have the fixtures. Caf must include us in the tournament and have nine teams (instead of eight) taking part, or we are going to CAS.”

Meanwhile, Starlets remain in camp at the Utalii hotel in Nairobi, hours after drawing 1-1 win Ghana in a build-up match on Wednesday. The Women’s Africa Nations Cup is set to take place in Ghana between November 17 and December 1 and Kenya had been pooled in Group B against South Africa, Nigeria and Zambia.