The men’s national football team Harambee Stars alongside their female counterparts Harambee Starlets have dropped places in the latest FIFA Rankings released on Thursday 31 March 2022 by world football governing body, FIFA.In the rankings released on the same day that FIFA ratified their previous decision of suspending Football Kenya Federation (FKF) as one of its member states following government interference on the country’s football governing body, Harambee Stars dropped one place as Starlets lost two places.Blow as FIFA ratifies Kenya suspensionPreviously sitting at position 103 in the previous ranking released on 10 February 2022, the currently coachless Harambee Stars dropped to 104 after not taking part in any international competition since the suspension that was imposed on the country back on 24 February.Kenya drops down one place in the latest FIFA rankings, from 103 to 104 pic.twitter.com/cLS2SwKSad— Jeff Kinyanjui (@Nyash88) March 31, 2022 Despite the current predicament plaguing the country and the lack of representation in international competitions, Kenya finds itself sitting in third place out of the seven East African Community (EAC) region.The new kid on the block Democratic Republic of Congo occupy first position as they sit in 67th place on the world rankings. Neighbouring Uganda Cranes, who are in position 86 in the world, occupy second position with Kenya coming third.✨ HISTORY IS MADE! EAC Heads of State OFFICIALLY admit the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) into the East African Community.H.E Uhuru Kenyatta,Chair of the Summit of EAC Heads of States announces during the 19th Extra-Ordinary Summit of EAC Heads of State#WelcomeDRC pic.twitter.com/FA37Zds9GM— East African Community (@jumuiya) March 29, 2022 Tanzania (130), Rwanda (136), Burundi (139), South Sudan (161) occupy the other places in respective order.On the other hand, Starlets dropped from position 146 to position 148 in their rankings that were released on 25 March.Starlets already felt the pinch of the suspension first hand as their crucial Africa Women Cup of Nations (AWCON) qualification match versus Uganda was called off in January, consequently denying the team a chance of staging a bid to make it to a very maiden World Cup tournament.Players of the Kenya women’s national team should be playing an AWCON qualifier against Uganda today. Instead, a dispute between the government and FA has resulted in the FA withdrawing the team, and ending their 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup dream. #LetKenyaPlay pic.twitter.com/Xgk3Q09y3l— FIFPRO (@FIFPRO) February 17, 2022 In the CAF region, Senegal maintained their grip as the best African country despite dropping two places from 18th to 20th. The top five was sealed by Morocco 9240, Nigeria (30), Egypt (32) and Tunisia (35).In the overall rankings, Brazil overtook Belgium as the best football nation in the planet as Mexico also jumped into the top 10 bracket after booking their ticket to the Qatar World Cup.
