FIFA President Gianni Infantino has praised President Hussein Mohammed as the newly-elected head of the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) shared his vision to advance the sport in the East African country into a new era.

Kenya will participate in its first African Nations Championship (CHAN) in February 2025 as co-hosts along with neighbours Tanzania and Uganda. It is the first time the tournament, which is reserved to squads of players from each nation’s domestic league, has been staged by three countries. The same trio will co-host the 2027 CAF Africa Cup of Nations, which is also a first for the continent’s flagship tournament.

“What a pleasure to meet a big fellow football fan in the newly elected Football Kenya Federation President Hussein Mohammed in Marrakech,” said the FIFA President, who was joined in the meeting by FIFA General Secretary Mattias Grafström and Gelson Fernandes, Deputy Chief Member Associations Officer and Regional Director Africa.

“I congratulated President Mohammed on his recent election and assured him of mine and FIFA’s support as he takes on his new challenge of building Kenyan football. President Mohammed’s love of the game and experience in football administration will enable him and his team to bring the sport forward.

“With plans for a new technical centre in Machakos and strong (Football Kenya Federation) participation in FIFA programmes, notably in women’s football, the desire and determination to progress on and off the pitch are clear in (Kenya).”

Progress is already being made. In addition to the new technical centre project, Kenya was just the second African country to host a FIFA Club Professionalisation and Management workshop when it welcomed FKF Premier League clubs to Nairobi in late October this year.

There has also been a keen focus on developing women’s football. After assisting in the drawing up of the FKF’s Women’s Football Strategy, which was unveiled in 2021, FIFA has underpinned growth in the women’s game in Kenya under the umbrella of its FIFA Women’s Football Development programmes.

The relationship and collaboration between the two organisations will continue to flourish under the new FKF leadership.

“First of all, it was quite exciting to meet with FIFA President Gianni Infantino and we are happy that we will now have a strong collaboration between the Football Kenya Federation and FIFA. We discussed areas of mutual development programmes, especially around the governance issues and infrastructure that is required if we are to successfully commercialise the sport, especially in Africa,” explained President Mohammed.

“The first priority, of course, is to restructure our federation and make sure that we have good governance structures. Accountability, integrity and transparency are critical if we are to achieve those objectives. That is the first one. The second thing is, of course, infrastructure development, which will lead to the successful commercialisation of the sport. Without the requisite infrastructure, we will not be able to develop the game to the international levels and compete with other countries as we should be able to.”