Four teams enter African qualifiers to be held in Algeria

By Oscar Pilipili

Four teams- Kenya, Algeria, Seychelles and Egypt- are the only ones that have so far confirmed participation in the London 2012 Olympic Games Qualifiers scheduled for February 1-4 in Algiers.

Kenya Volleyball Federation (KVF) chairman Waithaka Kioni told a National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting on Monday that Kenya has realistic chances of qualifying for the Olympics with the number of fewer teams competing in the Qualifiers.

Waithaka, however, expressed concern over myriad challenges facing the team that is currently training at Moi International Sports Centre and on top being the tickets issue.

He said: "A full volleyball team is made up 18 persons but we’ve only acquired nine tickets from the Ministry of Sports. The KVF is still negotiating with the Government over the possibility of donating more tickets to enable us take a full team to Algeria."

Although volleyball involves six players, participants are — by Federation of International Volleyball (FIVB) rules — required to enter a full team of 12 players in any global competition. This means Kenya cannot take fewer players to Algeria lest the federation be sanctioned.

Kioni said the federation looks forward to a more successful season after recording impressive results on and off the court last year including the national men and women’s teams each gaining bronze at All Africa Games.

Sigh of relief

The chairman said that fears of the National team being ejected from Moi International Sports Centre gymnasium to pave way for an Equity Bank function have been allayed after the monetary institution accepted request to postpone their event to January 29.

"I thank the management of Equity Bank for considering to give chance to the team which is on a national duty continue with their training, uninterrupted at the indoor facility," said Kioni.

At the same time, Kioni warned that the KVF will sanction local senior local players who collude with foreign agents to sneak talents out of the country with the knowledge of the federation.

Kioni’s concern came amid reports that a number of players recently went on trials in Japan without the blessings of the federation.

Expose players

"Whereas it is good to expose our players at international level, the scouts must inform the federation before engaging the players. We (KVF) have noted with great concern that some established players are even receiving money on behalf of others from foreign scouts," he said.

The KVF-NEC also resolved that title sponsors will be required to donate a minimum package of Sh100,000 to be allowed to own tournaments in the 2012 calendar of events that starts with National League meeting on February 11.

"The cost of running a single tournament ranges between Sh80,000 to Sh100,000 which is very expensive for the federation," said Kioni.

The meeting decided various deadlines for sponsors to confirm funding of their events and failure to which the KVF would strike them off the calendar.

Meanwhile, the anticipated heightened political activities in the country in the last quarter of this year have prompted Kenya Volleyball Federation (KVF) to bring forward National league play-offs from the traditional dates of November to October.

There was a consensus among National Executive Committee members that the league ends early because the impending presidential, parliamentary and civic election campaigns may interfere with the competition.

The play-offs are now scheduled for Kasarani gymnasium on October 26-28. London 2012 Olympic Games is major event in the KVF calendar.