Kenya national football team Harambee Stars after winning CECAFA Senior Challenge Cup recently. [Photo|Citizen TV]
Former Football Kenya Federation (FKF) president Sam Nyamweya has called for more investment in soccer to enable the national football team reach the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) in Cameroon.
He challenged the government to adopt a more proactive approach in helping Harambee Stars succeed in continental football.
In a statement on Thursday, Nyamweya also challenged private companies to invest more in football, noting that it would help grow the sport.
"It is my desire to see more corporate investments in football, driven by deliberate government incentives under the Public Private Partnership and Rapid Results Initiatives to enable us realise our full potential in football and sports at large," he said.
Nyamweya praised the government for motivating the team for their recent success in the CECAFA Senior Challenge Cup when Harambee Stars defeated Zanzibar 3-2 on post-match penalties.
"The victory over Zanzibar Heroes was a demonstration of Kenya's position in the region as a football powerhouse and testament to the fact that with little more support, Kenya is a football giant in Africa," he said.
Nyamweya also hailed Nick Mwenda (current FKF boss) and his team for staging a successful tournament at time when the country was going through a bruising post-election period.
The Harambee Stars' win, Nyamweya said, was a consolation to the country after it was stripped of the rights to host the 2018 CAF African Nations Championship (CHAN).
"The victory has aptly consoled the nation from the CAF decision and gone further to give Kenyans a hint of what they would have expected had we retained the rights to host Africa's second-tier tournament." he added.