Football Kenya Federation presidential aspirant Sammy Sholei has opined that Kenya should let the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers slide as attempts to clean up the state of football in the country continues.Kenya is currently serving a FIFA suspension that has locked the country out of international football, a situation that will see Kenya miss out on the upcoming qualifiers but Sholei believes that missing out on the continental showpiece should not be a big deal at the moment.Former Kenyan inteternational Sammy Tiyoi Sholei has announced that he will be vying for FKF President’s seat.The ex Tusker FC midfielder has previously served as FKF Vice-President.#KEFootball pic.twitter.com/cWSxV7sZDJ— Ole Teya (@Kevin_teya) January 19, 2022 The FIFA suspension imposed on Kenya has already claimed two casualties, with the Kenya Women National Team Harambee Starlets missing on the chance to play in the AWCON which will double up as the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup set for Australia and New Zealand, and the Women’s U-17 side missing the 2022 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup qualifiers.”The AFCON qualifiers do not matter to us at the moment. What we need to do is clean up the Kenyan football. We have been here for so many years but we have never had the time to clean up our football. Let us forget about the World Cup, let’s forget about the AFCON. Let us give ourselves time, two or three years to clean our house and from there you can come back to ask us about AFCON and World Cup. We just need that time, but working with FIFA,” Shollei told Radio Maisha Sports.World football governing body, FIFA ratified the suspension of the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) following a landslide poll by the FIFA Council Members on Thursday, March 31.Former FKF vice chairman Sammy Sholei has castigated the Federation over what he termed as betrayal of Kenyan football fans due to bad leadership.According to Sholei, the government of Kenya should now intervene and help instill sanity in the beautiful game. pic.twitter.com/7QGTnPzPpb— Geoffrey Mwamburi (@bekimwamburi) September 27, 2021 The suspension remains indefinite as it will be lifted once the Football Kenya Federation Caretaker Committee is ousted and the previous FKF regime reinstated in office, something that Sholei has contrary sentiments to.FIFA President Gianni Infantino confirmed that the suspension will be lifted immediately after Kenya reinstates the ousted Football Kenya Federation which was disbanded by the government on grounds of misappropriation of funds,”The FIFA council suspended Kenya on February 24th with immediate effect due to third party interference in particular the take over of football by a Caretaker Committee appointment by the government which is a serious violation of the FIFA statues.It is therefore recommended that the Congress confirms the suspension of the Football Kenya Federation enabling the council to lift the suspension immediately and as soon as the pertinent requirements have been fulfilled,” said Infantino.
