Kenya head coach Benni McCarthy says his technical staff have received no salary and warns that FIFA and CAF may have to step in, ahead of the Harambee Stars’ trip to South Africa.
Benni McCarthy has publicly stated that his technical staff have received no salary, while the players were paid after their September protest. The comments come three days before a trip to South Africa in the CAF 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
According to AfricaSoccer and AfricaSport, the South African coach warns that FIFA and CAF may have to intervene in the matter.
“Received nothing”: the staff left behind
“The technical staff have received nothing.” The phrase, reported by AfricaSoccer, sums up McCarthy’s position. The players, for their part, were paid after their September protest: the Kenyan squad had refused to train before their first qualifying match against Eritrea at the Nyayo National Stadium, over unpaid bonuses.
The former Manchester United strikers’ coach had personally persuaded his players to return to training at the time, when the team had only one session before the match. Most of them eventually received their bonuses after pressure on the Kenyan Federation and the government, AfricaSoccer reports. The staff, according to their head coach, have still received nothing.
According to GhanaMMA, citing SportyTV Africa, McCarthy on Monday mentioned three months without pay for his staff. Only GhanaMMA reports that figure.
The FIFA and CAF threat
“The authorities will have to come good and pay us, and FIFA and CAF may have to intervene in this situation,” he warned, as quoted by AfricaSoccer. GhanaMMA carries a very similar version: “The authorities will have to come good and pay us, and FIFA and CAF may have to intervene.”
The head coach is careful, however, not to mix up the issues. “We are professional enough to go out there and do our job. After the football matches, we can fight for what is worth fighting for,” he added, according to AfricaSoccer. In other words, the pitch comes before the accounts.
Still, the outburst puts the Kenyan Federation under pressure, with the technical staff’s salary situation yet to be resolved.
A match like no other
Kenya face South Africa on Friday 13 November 2026 at Orlando Stadium in Johannesburg in the CAF 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, before the return match scheduled for 18 November in Nairobi. It is a special trip for McCarthy, a South African who will return to his home country and a stadium where he has played.
According to AfricaSport, the head coach speaks of “complex emotion”. Before these two matches, Kenya have taken just one point, from the 1-1 draw against Eritrea in Nairobi, according to AfricaSoccer.