Kenya stops leagues in northeast region to curb Al-Shabaab growth

Saturday, April 18, 2015

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NAIROBI -- Kenya has stopped all football activities in northeastern region to stop Somali based terror group Al-Shabaab from using the sport to recruit new members.

Sam Nyamweya, Football Kenya Federation President, made the directive on Friday that all leagues in the region, which borders Somalia be stopped immediately.

"All leagues and competition in northeastern must be stopped immediately," said Nyamweya. "It is important that we allow the security agencies to vet the competitions first and give it a clean bill of health before resuming."

Nyamweya said many people are using the appeal of sports to fund competition, not with the aim of unearthing new talent, but to recruit new members for the Al-Shabaab.

Football is popular in the country, in spite of Kenya not being able to do well international as has been the case of track and field.

Only a week ago, 148 people died when the militants entered Garissa University College. Intelligence reports had shown that the institution will be attacked, but the security forces did not act in time.

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