Harambee Stars’ captain Michael Olunga has urged the government and Football Kenya Federation to invest in infrastructure.
He said doing this would help Kenya avoid the inconveniences associated with hosting home games outside of the nation.
Harambee Stars have been forced to host their home matches in Uganda, owing to the absence of Fifa and Caf - approved stadia.
The Al Duhail striker is adamant that Kenya’s ambitious plans to guarantee a spot in the upcoming Afcon were dashed when the national team was made to play their home games outside.
“Playing at home is undoubtedly a major source of motivation. Three years have passed since our last home game, and although we do not want to use that as an excuse, it does matter, so we should all try to make sure the stadium is prepared,” he said.
Olunga also expressed disappointment at the team’s inability to advance to the Africa Cup of Nations finals in 2025.
On Friday, the Stars drew 1-1 with Zimbabwe at Polokwane City’s Peter Mokaba Stadium, finishing third in their group.
Kenya’s hopes of winning a ticket to the prestigious continental showpiece in Morocco the following year were dashed by the result.
The whole team, according to Olunga, was devastated and had a hard time accepting that Kenya had been eliminated from the tournament.
“For all of us, this is a challenging moment to comprehend right now. We all feel let down that, despite our best efforts, we were unable to end on a positive note,” he said.
Despite the challenges they faced, Olunga said it would be foolish to place blame on any one person and that the best course of action would be to use the important lessons they learned from their disappointing campaign.
“It is a team effort and the players, management and technical bench must investigate the issues that need to be resolved to prevent similar disappointments in future assignments.”
He claimed consecutive defeats to the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon ultimately proved to be costly and played a significant role in Kenya’s heartbreaking elimination.
“We only lost two
straight games and that was against
Cameroon,” he said.
