Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) has apologised after failing to air Harambee Stars 2026 World Cup qualifying match against Gabon on Thursday, November 16, 2023.

The national broadcaster had promised to broadcast the match from Franceville but failed to do so as Kenya faced the Central Africans in the opening match of Group F. Harambee Stars are at the bottom of the table after a 2-1 loss.

KBC has promised to broadcast when Kenya will take on the remaining opponents in the group.

“We sincerely apologize to Kenyans for failing to transmit the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier match between Gabon and Kenya on November 16, 2023, at 7 p.m. due to a technical satellite challenge.

“Kindly note that this has been rectified, and we look forward to uninterrupted broadcast in the future,” KBC said in a statement posted on their social media pages.

Namwamba call out KBC

KBC’s statement came after Sports Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba called them out for their failure to air the match.

“Last night (Thursday 16), KBC Channel 1 let down Kenyan fans with satellite difficulties that occasioned a failure to screen the Harambee Stars game vs Gabon in Franceville. We owe Kenyans a sincere, unequivocal, and unambiguous apology for this disappointment. 

“You sure deserve better. Poleni sana,” Namwamba said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter.

Kenya will be back in action on Monday, November 20, when they will take on Seychelles in Ivory Coast.

Matchday two actions on November 20

Djibouti v Guinea Bissau (Group A) | 1500 | Cairo, Egypt

Liberia v Equatorial Guinea (Group H) | 1600 | Paynesville, Liberia

Seychelles v Kenya (Group F) | 1900 | Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire

The Gambia v Côte d’Ivoire (Group F) | 1900 | Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania

Mali v Central African Republic (Group I) | 1900 | Bamako, Mali

Chad v Madagascar (Group I) | 2000 | Oujda, Morocco