NAIROBI, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Kenya sevens head coach Paul Murunga on Tuesday warned the country may miss out on the Tokyo Olympic Games if they fail to get support and funding for better preparations.
Speaking in Nairobi on return from Paris where Kenya survived at the death relegation out of the World Series, Murunga cautioned that Kenya risks turning out to be a punching bag at the Africa Rugby qualifiers for the Olympic Games.
"The Olympics are critical for our continual development program. But good performance requires early preparations for the team to excel," said Murunga in Nairobi.
The Africa qualifiers for the Tokyo 2020 Games will be held in Johannesburg, South Africa from November 8-9. A total of 14 teams will compete for the single slot to represent Africa in the Olympics.
They are Kenya, Zimbabwe, Africa champions Uganda, Madagascar, Zambia, Tunisia, Senegal, Morocco, Namibia, Ghana, Botswana, Mauritius, Cote d'Ivoire and Nigeria.
South Africa will skip the qualifiers having secured their berth as one of the top four finishers at the World Series together with series champions Fiji, the United States and New Zealand.
"We need money and government support to attain this goal. These players have given everything under difficult circumstances, now it is the chance for the government and sponsors to come on board and champion the way forward for the team. We need full focus to navigate through the Africa qualifiers," added Murunga.
Kenya team returned from Paris where they preserve their top-tier core status in the World Series edging out Wales and Japan.
However, Kenya team lost the momentum when senior players boycotted to play demanding better contractual terms.
"These boys will get a chance next season. But it is important the impasse with senior players is cleared for the good of the team and for us to be strong in the Africa Olympic qualifiers in South Africa," said Murunga.
In 2015, Kenya sevens qualified for Rio Olympic Games after beating Zimbabwe 21-19 in the Africa qualifiers in South Africa.
The final qualifiers will be during the Olympic Repechage tournament to be held in June 2020. It will feature 12 women's and 12 men's teams with the second and third team in each continental competition invited to participate. Enditem