NAIROBI, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Kenya will not send a team to the Youth Commonwealth Games, which will be held in Nassau, Bahamas in July.
National Olympic Committee of Kenya (Nock) chairman Kipchoge Keino cited lack of finances as the reason behind the withdrawal and pledged to reconsider the issue should there be a change of fortune.
"We are in a hard place financially and we can't afford to send the team to Bahamas. But we leave it open that should there be a financier coming on board, then we may consider it again. But if there are no funds, then it is unfortunate that we will not be taking part in the games," said Keino on Wednesday in Nairobi.
Critics may see this as a retaliatory attack to the British team, who were the first to pull rag on Kenya last month, when they announced their team will not be travelling to Nairobi for the World Youth Championships, which comes just a week to the games in Nassau.
The East African nation is opting to focus on the Africa youth games in Cameroon and the World Youth Championships in Nairobi.
Earlier, Kenya had pledged to select two teams for the two events with Athletics Kenya President Jack Tuwei confirming that the country will compete in both competitions.
"We have a big pool of athletes to draw from and they will get their chance. We will have two teams and I regret the decision by Britain to skip the World Youth Championships in Nairobi," Tuwei had said.
