Firat: Playing CHAN qualifiers makes no sense
Today at 07:00 AM
Kenya head coach Engin Firat admits to being stumped at having to play meaningless qualifiers as co-hosts of the 2024 African Nations Championship (CHAN).
The East Africans will stage the tournament alongside neighbours Tanzania and Uganda in preparation for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations, which will also be co-hosted by the three countries.
Firat’s side suffered a 2-0 defeat to South Sudan in the first round on Sunday and will face the Bright Stars again in the return leg on Friday, with the winner going on to feature in the second round of qualifying.
But Firat has questioned the logic of even being involved in these matches, insisting his players don’t benefit at all and they risk picking up injuries.
“It does not make sense for me especially if you know these are professional players who are used to playing for something but now, they have nothing to play for,” the Turkish tactician said.
“This is not something little, it is the most important thing in sport, to have something to play [for] and if you are a normal person, it affects you mentally.
“You know you have a match at the weekend so you don’t want to get injured so everything affects you. Therefore, these kinds of matches do not make sense for me. I cannot say the players benefited, how? I do not understand.”
