If you follow football, you would know just how exciting this season is. The football world cup is just around the corner and it has got all fans pretty excited.
In fact, it’s what has people all over the world heading off to Russia, which is expecting an influx of millions of tourists for this mega event.
[ads1]However, in the midst of all this, as many betters continue to try out the Bet9ja promotion code, and try their hands on online sports betting sites, comes another interesting development.
South Africa gets a Kenyan replacement
So, how did South Africa get a Kenyan replacement? Let us take a look.
The Kenyan replacement Story
The AFC (Asian Football Confederation) is considered like the FIFA of the South Asian region, where countries from the continent of Asia and Australia take part. So as to enhance the prep for the upcoming 2019 AFC Cup, India decided to host a tournament. Though the 2018 Intercontinental Cup saw South Africa being replaced by Kenya after the South African Football Federation expressed its inability to participate in the upcoming four-nation tournament.
The Intercontinental Cup
The 2018 Intercontinental Cup is a four national football tournament. Its host country is India, and the matches would be taking place in the Mumbai Football Arena, in the city of Mumbai. It is also referred to as 2018 Hero Intercontinental Cup, with automotive company Hero being its official sponsor.
The matches would be held between 1st to 10th of June. Its main purpose is to serve as a preparatory ground for the teams that have qualified for 2019 AFC Asian Cup, which is to be held in UAE. The tournament is being organized by AIFF (All India Football Federation).
Participating nations
Since it’s a four-nation team event, the participants of this tournament are:
India,
Chinese Taipei, from AFC (Asian Football Confederation) region
New Zealand, from Oceania region
Kenya, from CAF (Confederation of African Football) region
Kenya replacing South Africa
The heart of the matter is that South Africa, which was the FIFA World Cup host in 2010, won’t be taking part in the tournament owing to commitments in their schedule. It is also to host the 2018 COSAFA Cup which commences in July. So, they needed someone to help them out, and there was nobody better than the Kenyan team to do the job.
About the Kenyan Team
You might wonder if the team does have it when it comes to performing at a big stage. However, here is the thing.
Kenya on the other, even after being ranked 113 in the FIFA-Coca Cola World Rankings, does have a professional team. A lot of players from the Kenyan squad play for professional premier leagues.
The tournament is to be live cast by Star Sports. The AFC Asian Cup is India’s second qualification after its last qualification in Doha in 2011. The tournament format is supposed to remain the same with each team playing the other team, and two of the teams advancing to the final clash.