Harambee Stars U23 head coach, Stanley Okumbi, is hopeful that the Emerging Stars squad scheduled to leave the country for the upcoming CECAFA tournament will now be at full strength following the decision to postpone the tournament from July 3rd to July 17th.The regional footballing event was set to kick off in the Ethiopian city of Bahir Dar this Sunday, July 3rd but, according to the statement released by the organizers, Covid-19 forced the event to be rescheduled to start on July 17.The Posta Rangers tactician, who also doubles up as the Emerging Stars head coach, is now staying positive that with the tournament’s postponement, clubs in the league will not be hesitant in releasing a number of their young talented players as the crucial and most demanding dates in the league and cup will have passed.“I actually think the postponement is positive for us because the Mashemeji Derby (where AFC Leopards are set to clash with Gor Mahia in the FKF cup finals on July 4th) and the crucial date of June 30th when the CAF Champions League representative is set to be determined will all have passed. With reduced pressure, I just think and hope the clubs will now be able to cooperate in giving us players after we get to hold talks with them,” the head coach revealed to Mozzart Sport.⚽️| New dates released for upcoming CECAFA U23 tournament that is set for Ethiopia#Cecafa #EmergingStars https://t.co/JZzXx1D1cc— Mozzart Sport Kenya (@MozzartSportKe) June 28, 2021 In a previous interview, Okumbi noted that circumstances had forced him to make do without a majority of his key targets because of the understandable lack of squad depth and crucial fixtures. The FKF Premier League is at a critical stage and clubs were against releasing their young players while league matches are not stopped.“I decided to meet and call all the coaches to discuss with them the availability of the players I had drafted initially. But because of the congestion of the fixtures, some coaches explained to me that they did not have squad depth and I understood them. I met Gor Mahia’s coach Vaz Pinto and he told me that he has few players and releasing more would make his work very hard, and I got his point,” Okumbi explained.⚽️| How did these guys miss a place in the U-23 squad? 🤔#HarambeeStars #EmergingStars https://t.co/ovqVgMRuMp— Mozzart Sport Kenya (@MozzartSportKe) June 22, 2021 Had the tournament gone on as planned, a large number of talented youngsters including Gor’s Frank Odhiambo and Alpha Onyango, Ingwe’s Lewis Bandi and Austine Ochieng, Nairobi City Stars’ Kevin ‘Chumsy’ Okumu, all who have massively impressed in the ongoing campaign, risked missing out on the tournament due to the demanding club schedules.The tournament will see a total of thirteen teams expected to battle for the crown – Kenya, Uganda (defending champions), Burundi, Ethiopia, Eritrea, South Sudan, Djibouti, Tanzania, Zanzibar, DR Congo (Guests) and Rwanda, Sudan and Somalia (last two yet to confirm).
