2012 Nehru Cup: Will Kenya send a junior team?

The 2012 edition of the Nehru Cup is set to be a five nation affair with African sides, Cameroon and Kenya, Asian sides, Syria and the Maldives besides hosts, India, are set to take part. The tournament will kick-off on August 22 in New Delhi, but the All India Football Federation has still not confirmed the final line-up of nations to play in the tournament.

There have been confirmations from Maldives (Football Association of Maldives) and Syria (Syrian Football Association) that their nations will participate in the tournament, while Goal.com reported earlier in the day that Cameroon has confirmed their participation with a squad made-up of players from the local Cameroonian league. But now the AIFF could face problems with the other African participant, Kenya. It was clear from the onset that Kenya star, Victor Mugabe Wanyama from Celtic Glasgow would not play in the tournament like their Europe-based players, but now there is a match which Kenya is supposed to play against Jamaica on August 25 in East Rutherford, New Jersey in the US.

The official Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) Twitter account tweeted yesterday: August 25 – Jamaica vs Kenya @ East Rutherford CT

The August 25 date, which is also in the FIFA match calendar, would mean that Kenya would have an official international friendly during the Nehru Cup and if Kenya is considering to send two teams for playing the Nehru Cup and the Jamaica friendly, then surely the weaker side would be sent to India, maybe the Kenya Football Federation is even thinking about sending a junior team.

Earlier, Jordan had made a similar offer to send their Under-19 side, which the AIFF politely turned down.

All this sounds similar to what happened in earlier editions of the Nehru Cup.