Harambee Stars will get ksh 50 million if they beat Ethiopia on Sunday. Deputy President William Ruto has said.
“We will give a reward of Kshs 50m if the boys will beat Ethiopia on Sunday.” The DP said when he visited Kasarani Stadium, the venue of Sunday’s clash on Friday.
He further revealed that the team will receive a state of the art bus in November.
“We had promised the team a bus earlier last year (when Stars won CECAFA) and that will happen in the coming month. We have also paid all the allowances for the team and added a total of Ksh 24M to help the team prepare well ahead of the next tie,” Ruto said.
The DP further said that the government is planning for a clear mechanism to reward sportsmen and women in the country in the all sporting disciplines.
“We are looking for a clear funding method for other sports disciplines to ensure that the potential of our sportsmen and women is fully tapped,” Ruto added.
Stars held Ethiopia to a barren draw in the first leg of the 2019 AFCON qualifiers on Wednesday 10 October and will be looking to wrap it up with a maximum haul of points in the return clash.
The team jetted back from Ethiopia on Thursday evening and headed straight to Utalii hotel to start preparation for the Sunday clash with coach Sebastien Migne has dubbed a final.
A win for Kenya, will take them a step closer to qualification especially after FIFA suspended Sierra Leone from international competitions.
Currently, the team leads Group F with 4 points ahead of Ethiopia on goal difference. Ghana have three points albeit having played one match less. But the status can change if FIFA strips Sierra Leone of all the points earned. This will mean Ethiopia will have only one point.
Stars Captain Victor Wanyama has rallied fans to turn out in large numbers and support the team on Sunday.
Wanyama said that he has never seen such a large crowd like he saw in Ethiopia on Wednesday and believes they can beat anyone with fans behind the team.
The government has announced that there will be a free entry for all fans on Sunday. Nairobi governor has also said that he will provide 150 buses to ferry fans to Kasarani.