By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Kenya will not take part in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, whose qualifying campaign starts in early June.
The East African nation had needed their ban to have been lifted two weeks before their first Nations Cup qualifier if they were to take part in the 2023 campaign.
However, this deadline – which came on Saturday 21 May – passed without Kenya being readmitted to the international fold.
The Harambee Stars had been due to play in Cameroon on 4 June before then hosting Namibia four days later.
It means that Group C will now compromise of Cameroon, Namibia and Burundi – with the top two qualifying for next year’s tournament in Ivory Coast.
The ban imposed by Fifa in February came after Kenya’s sports ministry disbanded the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) over alleged misappropriation of funds and appointed a caretaker committee in November 2021.
Despite the sanction, Kenya were included in the draw for the 2023 Nations Cup, with the Confederation of African Football (Caf) giving them a deadline for the ban to be lifted to participate.
“In case the suspension is not lifted two weeks before their first matchday of the qualifiers; both associations [along with Zimbabwe] will be considered as losers and eliminated from the competition,” a Caf statement read.
“Consequently, their groups will be composed of three teams. The first and runner-up teams of those groups will qualify to the final tournament.”
Zimbabwe who were grouped with Bafana Bafana, Morocco and Liberia, will now drop out of the Afcon 2023 qualifying stages.
In a statement Fifa said “Kenya and Zimbabwe are suspended for political interference and have not yet met the criteria required by the Fifa congress as a prerequisite for lifting their suspension.”
“The Fifa council suspended Kenya on February 24th with immediate effect due to third party interference, in particular, the takeover of football by a caretaker committee appointed by the government, which is a serious violation of the Fifa statutes,” Fifa president Gianni Infantino had announced.
“It is therefore recommended that the congress confirm 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.”
Fifa’s 198 members voted to support the sanction of the decision by the sanction at the global football governing body’s 72nd congress held on March 31, 2022, in Doha, Qatar.