The inconsistency of Kenyan teams at the African Cup for Club Championship continues to worry stakeholders with Wazalendo the country's only representative in this year's competition.
Wazalendo, who were runners-up in the men's national league in 2019 will play in the week-long tournament scheduled for November 24-30 in Accra, Ghana.
This will be the 32nd version of the men's continental tournament.
No Kenyan women's team will grace the 23rd showpiece despite record African title holders Blazers and United States International University USIU-A Spartans being eligible.
Defending champions of the KHU league Butali Warriors have given the competition a wide berth. The Constance Wakhura-captained Butali last played in 2016 when the event was hosted in Nairobi. The sugar millers finished third even though they have dominated the local league for the past four years, they have escaped ACCC.
Kenya Police who lost 3-2 to Egyptian side Eastern Company in the final 2016, have failed to show up since then. Blazers who boast of 10 African titles, winning the last in 2018, have been bedeviled by financial challenges since 2019, following the untimely withdrawal of sponsors Telkom.
The championships return following a no-show last year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
KHU secretary general Wycliffe Ongori observed that such inconsistency is occasioned by the inability of the clubs to cater for their travel logistics.
"It is expensive to fund for the travel of teams. About 60 per cent of clubs are self-supporting. Wazalendo have used two years to raise funds for club championships and the pandemic was a blessing in disguise," KHU Ongori said.
Eastern Company, Tairat, Zamalek (Egypt), Ghana Army, Ghana Revenue Authority, Ghana Police Service, Nigerian duo of Kada Stars and Police Machine, as well as Wazalendo, complete the nine-team tournament.
A new champion will be crowned in the absence of Egypt's El Sharkia, who won the last three consecutive editions.
Three Ghanaian teams and two from Nigeria will make up the five-team women's tournament. They include Ghana Prisons, Ghana Revenue Authority, Ghana Police Service. Nigerian representatives are Delta Queens and Plateau Queens.
"Teams from Southern Hemisphere are not participating while their Northern counterparts hardly take part. The African Hockey Federation has to look for a continental sponsor for clubs in the ACCC if the trend is to change," Ongori remarked.
