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FKF top official slams critics after Kenya’s painful futsal exit
30th January, 2026 02:35 PM
Football Kenya Federation Head of Special Projects and National Teams, Athanas Obango, has defended the national men’s futsal team following the side’s elimination from the CAF Africa Cup of Nations Futsal Morocco 2026 Qualifiers.
A futsal team is a five-a-side indoor soccer squad, including a goalkeeper, playing a fast-paced version of soccer with specialised roles.
Kenya’s dream of qualifying for the historic tournament in Morocco came to an end on Wednesday evening, January 28, 2026, after a 10–7 home loss to Namibia at the Kasarani Indoor Arena sealed their elimination.
The defeat meant the James Omondi-coached side exited the qualifiers with an 18–11 aggregate score, having earlier gone down 8–4 in the first leg played in Windhoek.
Speaking on a local radio interview on Thursday, January 29, 2026, Obango acknowledged that the game of futsal is new in Kenya’s sports ecosystem, noting that it is a new kid on the block that needs patience and time for the team to develop. He further hailed the team for their spirited fight against a team that has professional futsal leagues, managing to break their defence several times with little knowledge about the game.
Lack of knowledge
”In the first leg, we conceded goals because of a lack of knowledge. We do not have coaches and referees in futsal. We have the facilities, and we have had people who try to bring futsal in the country in a private capacity, but as a federation, we are really proud of those boys because they played a game that you don’t even understand the rules,” Obango said.
The FKF official also acknowledged the fact that the team is on a good trajectory in matters of improvement.
”It took them time to understand, remember we conceded eight goals in Namibia and on Wednesday we conceded around 10 goals, but we were able to score seven goals. It tells you that these players improved in terms of understanding the rules, and they played against a country that has even played at AFCON,” he added.
However, Obango told off those criticising the team’s performance, saying it is even ironic for them to blame the players when they themselves are not familiar with the game.
Unwarranted criticism
”People are looking at results, forgetting that we have started something; you have to start somewhere. We are grateful to the fans who turned out. We did not expect that. People should not criticise something they don’t understand.” Obango asserted.
Futsal is a scaled-down variant of association football played between two teams of five players each on a court smaller than a football pitch. Its rules are based on the FIFA Laws, and it also shares similarities with five-a-side football and indoor soccer.
