Kenyan international Joseph Okumu is out of the four-nation tournament set for next week in Lilongwe, Malawi, with an abductor tear.The central defender has been out of action for three weeks now, with his last appearance for his club, Reims in the French Ligue One, being the 1-1 draw against Lens on 18th March.##NAJAVA_MECA_7950085##He has been out of action ever since, with his coach Will Still believing the injury could sideline him for a long period of time.”We unfortunately lost Joseph Okumu, who has a tear in the adductors, so it is annoying. It risks being long; we will see,” he stated.Okumu suffered a knock a week earlier against Lorient before his latest abductor injury issue but still managed to play against Lens. When asked if the two injuries are related, Still said there was a possibility that the situation could have worsened sidelining the player for longer.”It is not necessarily in the same place, but if there is compensation or overcompensation, it’s yes, one of the possibilities, but I say it is a fact.”Ghana triumph over Gambia in spirited African Games clashWith the player yet to train with his club for close to a month, there are no chances that he will be ready for next week’s international action, and Harambee Stars will have to look at other options in his position.The player missed the World Cup qualifiers against Gabon and Seychelles last November with an unspecified injury that put his club and the Kenya FA at loggerheads over what FKF believed was an intentional decision by Reims to block the player from featuring for his nation. He returned to action a fortnight later.Kenya will take part in a four-nations tournament in Lilongwe, Malawi, next week, aimed at sharpening the teams ahead of the June World Cup qualifiers. The other teams are the hosts Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. All four nations will also field their U20 teams, which will face off in a separate juniors’ tournament.Coach Salim Babu has already named the Kenya U20 squad, with his senior team counterpart Engin Firat expected to release his before the end of the week.Wanzala elated with Kenya Under 20 call-up
