NAIROBI, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- Kenya risk facing a ban from International Hockey Federation, should it forfeit their slot to compete at the Africa Olympic qualification tournament in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Kenya Hockey Union chairman Nahashon Randiek says they are unable to secure financial support to the team in South Africa and the government has been reluctant to pay for the team.
Eight countries including Kenya, hosts South Africa, Nigeria, Uganda, Namibia, Ghana, Egypt and Botswana will be competing in the tournament, which will occur on Aug. 12-18.
The qualifiers will mark the fourth edition of the African qualification tournament for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the winner of the tournament will represent the continent in next year's Olympics Games.
"We risk missing out because of budgetary constraints. The organizers are keen to have Kenya on board, and African Hockey Federation (AfHF) has been making calls and demands to petition us to confirm our participation," said Randiek on Thursday in Nairobi.
"However, we have no money for the trip and we hope the government will come in and bail us out," added Randiek.
Kenya is entering two teams, the women's and men's, with a budget of over 7 million Kenyan shillings (70,000 U.S. dollars).
Kenya last competed at the Olympics back in 1980, but poor development structures, lack of funding and dearth in talent has contributed to the failure of the team on the global stage.
However, Randiek is hopeful that they will be able to turn the tide and secure qualification for at least one team at the Tokyo Games.
Kenya had planned to have a week-long training camp in South Africa prior to the competition, but Randiek says the window is closing in fast without any commitment from the government.
"We keep changing dates because we cannot go to camp if we do not have money. It would have been better if we arrived at the camp a week earlier so that we can settle. We have had meetings with the ministry on Monday and we are still in talks, we are hopeful that by the end of this week we now be able to confirm our attendance for the Olympic qualifiers," he added.
