NAIROBI, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- Kenya has made a last-minute decision to withdraw from the invitational Capricorn Sevens tournament in Namibia owing to lack of funds.
Paul Murunga, the Junior Sevens team coach, said on Friday they failed to secure government sponsorship for the tournament, which starts on Saturday in Windhoek attracting giants Australia, South Africa, Botswana and hosts Namibia.
"It is frustrating for the players because we had planned to play in Namibia. However, the team did not travel because we lacked the airfare," said Murunga on Friday.
"We've been told there's no money and this hurt a lot. The players were forced to get new passports within a short time and train for all that time then they are told they won't travel."
South Africa won the 2019 edition of Capricorn Sevens tournament beating Germany 29-5 in the final. They won all 6 matches, with 294 points scored and 17 conceded.
Kenya Rugby Union (KRU) director of development, Kikechi Kombo, confirmed that the team could not make the trip to Namibia as they are facing financial constraints. KRU has made public their 4 million U.S dollar budget to compete in this season's competitions.
This will include cash for the women's team Lioness, Shujaa, who are in Los Angeles for the World Series, and Simbas, the Kenya 15s side, who will be competing in the Africa Cup against Morocco and Zambia.
Kombo said they had pinned their hopes on the government to meet their side of the bargain.
"We were hoping to get the tickets from the government to facilitate the trip but this did not materialize," Kombo added.
He said they will focus on playing other age-grade tournaments in South Africa and Zimbabwe later in the year if funds are available.
