Kenya has been grouped alongside East African neighbours Burundi, Namibia, and previous hosts Cameroon in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
This is despite Kenya being suspended by FIFA from international football due to government interference; CAF hopes the team will be cleared in time to participate in the qualifiers.
The two top teams in teams in each group will proceed to the finals in June next year however, only one team will go through in Group H where hosts Ivory Coast are placed.
Kenya was suspended by the World Football governing body, Fifa, following the government’s interference with football management in the country.
Cabinet Secretary for Sports Amina Mohamed was forced to hound out of office the entire Football Kenya Federation (FKF) team led by President Nick Mwendwa on corruption allegations.
She replaced it with a Caretaker Committee and a Secretariat led by Justice Aaron Ringera.
However, the government gave a deaf ear to their demands to have the officials reinstated back in office, Fifa on February 24 suspended Kenya from all its activities until Mwendwa and his team is allowed back in office.
The World Football governing body ratified Kenya’s indefinite suspension on March 31, during the Fifa Congress in Doha, Qatar.
Kenya last graced the Afcon tournament in 2019 in Egypt where they failed to make it past the group stages.
Ivory Coast will take part in the group matches despite having qualified for the Afcon finals by virtue of being the hosts.