23rd May, 2014
Italian Serie’ A’ side Inter Milan FC have confirmed their first-ever African playing tour, which will take them to Nairobi on Friday, PANA reported.
The team’s visit has been made possible by Football Kenya Federation and the Italian Football Association, under the technical cooperation between both football bodies.
Inter Milan, which finished fifth in the just-ended Serie A league, will comprise a strong squad excluding players engaged with their World Cup.
They will play Kenya’s senior national team, Harambee Stars.
Kenya will use the tie to gear up for their 2015 Africa Cup of Nations first-round qualifier return match against Comoros on June 1.
Kenya beat the Comoros 1-0 in the first leg match in Nairobi May 18.
“The federation, is in partnership with the Government, and our parent Ministry of Sports, Arts the Culture,
“The Kenya Tourism Board and the SSMB, have played a major role in ensuring the team’s historic visit to Kenya,’’ said Football Kenya Federation (FKF) President Sam Nyamweya.
“The visit serves as a strong indicator of the federation’s efforts to support the Tourism Ministry’s Campaign toward the Tourism Recovery Programme and to showcase our ability to host International football teams,” he said.
“We are extremely delighted and deeply honoured for hosting the team in our country and this visit is an indicator of the great strides that has been taken by our federation.”
The visit comes barely a few weeks after the very successful tour to Kenya by the Italian U-18 team that played two matches against the Kenya Under-20 team and Kenyan Premier League side Gor Mahia Under-19 squad.