Football Kenya Federation (FKF) CEO Barry Otieno has downplayed reports of Kenya’s ban being lifted by FIFA saying they anticipate the world football governing body to do so next week just days before the start of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.On Friday evening, social media was awash with reports that FIFA had lifted the suspension that has been in place since February but in a rejoinder, Mr. Otieno termed the speculation as false.##NAJAVA_MECA_6806402##“This is not correct, we expect it to be lifted next week,” the former federation head of communication told journalists.Kenya was banished from the international scene in February over government interference. This came after former Sports CS Amina Mohammed disbanded the federation and installed a caretaker/transition to run football in the country. The committee was in charge of football for 11 months before their mandate elapsed.During the suspension period, Kenya was locked out of AWCON, AFCON, and CHAN qualifiers. The junior sides were not spared either as they missed the AFCON U17, U20, and U23 qualifiers. The country was also locked out of regional tournaments by CECAFA. Clubs are not spared either as Tusker and Vihiga Queens were locked out of continental inter-club tournaments.UPDATE According supersport, FIFA has lifted suspension imposed on Kenya. Official communication in the coming days. pic.twitter.com/vnFXnnIkRJ— Rodgers Odhiambo (@rodgers_otienoo) November 11, 2022 New CS Ababu Namwamba restored FKF a week ago and immediately the federation wrote to FIFA confirming that they are in charge of football again in the country. The lifting of the suspension is expected soon to allow Kenya to feature in international tournaments again.Meanwhile, the FKF Premier League is set to resume in a week’s time. The federation, which has since nullified the 2021/22 season that was run by the transition committee released fixtures on Friday that indicate that the league will start on Saturday 19th November.Former Aston Villa defender Alan Hutton downplays Wanyama’s potential return to Celtic
