Harambee Stars coach Benni McCarthy has revealed why his team pulled out of the ongoing pre-chan tournament in Arusha.
Kenya, alongside co-hosts Tanzania and Uganda as well as Chan holders Senegal were meant to be part of the tournament as part of preps for the Chan that kicks off on August 02.
However, on the day they were supposed Uganda Cranes, they pulled out.
“We are very good to be back. Very good environment, facilities. I think Tanzania was just a misfortune,” McCarthy told reporters at the team’s training ground in Nairobi on return from Arusha.
“You know, I think we went there with good intentions but unfortunately for footballing reasons, football decisions,” he added.
“So yeah, the team and technical team we came together we just said you know, we think very highly of ourselves, we want to have the best preparations for Chan, we want to be ready for Chan and if we were to continue in the tournament, I think it would have set us majorly back probably losing players to injuries because the conditions were not favourable for us to work in an environment where we will be able to keep our players fit and to play at the highest and best level that we expect from ourself.”
Kawowo Sports understands that teams were not allowed to train on the main pitch and the available training pitches weren’t good.
“Because of those reasons, we felt for the safety reasons and well being of everyone involved in the squad, we decided to leave,” McCarthy further explained.
Kenya are in a tough group with two-time winners Morocco and DR Congo as well as Zambia and Angola.
McCarthy has already named his final 25-man squad for the tournament.
