- The contractual standoff comes with less than 35 days remaining before Kenya 7s compete in the revamped series that has a reduced 12 sides.
The men’s national rugby 7s team, Shujaa, has not trained for the past one week due to contractual issues between them and the country’s rugby governing body Kenya Rugby Union (KRU).
SportPesa Blog can confirm that both the players and the technical bench are yet to receive their contracts for the upcoming 24/25 season where the team is expected to make their return to the World Rugby Sevens Series following the expiry of the ones covering the 23/24 campaign in August.
The Shujaa players and coaching staff held meetings during the week and vowed not to take part in any team training without receiving binding contracts from KRU.
This comes at a time when the Kevin Wambua-coached side should be intensifying on final preparations for the 24/25 World Rugby Sevens Series campaign that get underway on 30 November in Dubai.
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Initially, the plan was for Shujaa, who claimed the Safari 7s 2024 title in Machakos on 13 October, to rest for one week before officially starting their training for the Series which has not been the case.
SportPesa Blog is aware that KRU has been promising to issue contracts but that is yet to materialize, which partly led to a couple of experienced players missing from the Shujaa squad that played in the Safari 7s held in Machakos.
Upon inquiry, KRU chairperson Sasha Mutai admitted that indeed the team’s preparations were not the ideal situation although promising to work things out.
“We will be honest with ourselves and admit that the preparations have not been ideal. The team should have been training now but that is not the case. We are preparing the drafts and hopefully the players will get them soon. The contracts are going to be performance-based,” he told SportPesa Blog.
Shujaa Team Manager Steve Sewe also confirmed that the issue was being worked by the KRU management.
“The contracts are currently being worked on and we hope that it can be sorted soon so that the players can even get the drafts,” he said.
A majority of the players in the Shujaa camp are up in arms, demanding to get a binding agreement before agreeing to play.
The Shujaa coaching staff also do not have any contract since the initial three-month agreement they were given during their appointment back in August 2023.
This is despite the technical bench of Wambua, Louis ‘Fadhee’ Kisia and former Shujaa captain Andrew Amonde leading the team back to the top tier, earning a ticket to the Paris 2024 Olympics, winning the Rugby Africa 7s cup all in under one year since being appointed.
The contractual standoff comes with less than 35 days remaining before Shujaa compete in the revamped series that has a reduced 12 sides, making it difficult for small teams like Kenya who stretch to their limit to try and provide a challenge with the other nations preparing at the highest level.
Kenya 7s 24/25 World Rugby 7s Series Calendar (First 5 rounds)
Dubai 7s – 30 Nov to 1 1 December 2024
Cape Town 7s -7 to 8 December 2024
Perth 7s – 24 to 26 January 2025
Vancouver 7s – 21 to 23 Feb 2025
Hong Kong – 28 to 30 March 2025
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