The Somali National Olympic committee First vice president and head of international relations Duran Ahmed Farah has on Monday visited the Ocean stars training at the ill-equipped political science University soccer field telling them that they luckier than other national team members in the peaceful days.
The NOC senior vice president was accompanied by the Somali Football Federation president Said Mahmoud Nur who first gave him detailed information on the real situation of the team and their training sessions.
“Somali Football Federation had done more than its capacity, because working in such very chaotic country the SFF had never missed the participation of regional, continental and international competitions, while some other countries in the CECAFA region miss some of the competitions” the Somali NCO senior vice president said during his visit to the Ocean stars on Monday.
He termed the Ocean stars as ‘hero ambassadors’ who are representing their nation in such difficulty era praising them for their endurance of the hard circumstances they are facing in the lawless country where more than a dozen beloved football family members were killed since 2007.
Those include former international football referee Abdi Abdullahi Alasow, Somali Football Federation executive committee member Ali Hussein Kariye, former SFF treasure Abdirahman Hussein Dhunte and some prominent national team members.
During the visit by the Somali NOC senior official a minute of silence was observed in remembrance of the lost Somali Football Family members.
“I know you don’t have all you need and that is because of the difficulties that Somalia is currently undergoing, but I am hopeful there will be chances” the senior Somali NOC voice president noted while addressing the national team members.
“You are representing your nation in such a very difficult period and that is why I am telling you that you are luckier than those before you who lived in peaceful Somalia, because the history will mention that you survived the name and the flag of your country in a time when life was even harder” he told the Ocean stars.
He encouraged them to be friendly and to show fair play during the November world cup qualifier clashes against Ethiopia. The team is expected to be flown to Nairobi for four weeks of training before its first clash due in Nairobi on 11th of November, where Somalia will use as a home country since Somali FA cannot host international matches in the country because of insecurity. The second clash will take place in Addis Ababa on the 15th of November.
