A total of ten under-17 football players have been selected to join the national under-17 team during the Coast regional selection exercise at Mbaraki ground in Mombasa.

Four of the ten players got their luck after securing a direct invitation.

These players include Hamisi Omar, Abdulrazak Hassan, Abdulamin Hassan and Ali Hamisi Nduni.

The other six players will undergo a final selection in Nairobi with the rest of the players from all eight regions for them to qualify.

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They are as follows Majaliwa Charo, Aden Abdi, Lucas Masha, Hassan Issa, Mohamed Karisa and William Gitima.

FKF Chair youth committee chairman Chris Amimo said the under 17 football players selected to join the national team will also undergo a mandatory age assessment through birth document scrutiny.

He also points out that they have to show their school documents and also do MRI scans to curb age fabrication among the selected players.

Amimo notes that the young footballers selected will join the nation under 17 team which will represent the country in the under 17 Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA) Cup tournament to be held in Rwanda in mid-December. 

The players will also participate in the AFCON cup tournament to be held in Morocco next year March.

He said the level of football among teenagers in Mombasa has impressed Football Kenya Federation officials who are in Mombasa to oversee the selection exercise for Kenya Under 17 football national team.

According to Amimo the selection team exercise does not use any quarter system but purely on the technical levels of the players.

Meanwhile, Kwale County FKF Chair Duncan Jacob Maghanga said there is a need to embark on football skills by nurturing them at a tender age through football academies to produce the best football players.

Kwale county FKF Chair Hamisi Mwakoja attributes poor leadership of soccer within the county to the lagging behind of soccer games.

At the same time, Tana River County FKF Chair Said Ilu cited financial constraints, clashes and drought as some of the challenges in the county.

According to Ilu the county has the potential to produce Women soccer players.

He notes that women soccer players have drastically reduced due to what he terms as outdated cultural beliefs among the communities.

Oh her part, FKF Mombasa chair Lillian Kazungu said Mombasa has always had talents but cites lack of infrastructure in place to nurture them.

“This time, the Covid-19 situation has been a blessing in disguise for us because the children were found at home,” Kazungu said.