Cellestine Olilo

Kenya

Sports Writer at Daily Nation

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Articles

High attendance reveals infrastructure, security underbelly of Nyayo Stadium

4 weeks ago | nation.africa | Cellestine Olilo

It could have been the result of aggressive social media campaigns on Tiktok. Or the Benni McCarthy effect, that former assistant coach of Manchester United and Bafana Bafana all-time top scorer who is bound to be a crowd puller wherever he goes. It could have been the opponents, Gabon, and their star power led by Gabonese ace Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Or the fact that Harambee stars have not played on Kenyan soil for more than two years, who knows?
FKF electoral board must deliver credible polls

Sep 26, 2024 | nation.africa | Cellestine Olilo

No iron law of politics says a federation cannot recover from decades of poor leadership. So don’t write Hussein Mohammed or the other presidential hopefuls off too quickly because of the long game Nick Mwendwa insists on playing. Also, don’t kid yourself that this will be just another selection process where Kenyan football stakeholders will accept a bungled process without a word.
The mysterious case of Engin Firat's contract and unpaid salary

Sep 12, 2024 | nation.africa | Cellestine Olilo

Help me out here. I am trying to imagine working in a foreign country, doing an important, specialised job such as coaching a national team, and not being paid for nine months. What would a public announcement of this predicament look like? Probably a bit like a snippet from Donald Trump’s rambling, incoherent exposition during Tuesday’s US Presidential debate.
Can rehabilitation stop the cycle of domestic violence?

Sep 5, 2024 | nation.africa | Cellestine Olilo

Imagine how it would feel to have your partner hold a knife to your throat, and then try to stab you. Or when they wrestle you to the point of exhaustion before strangling you to death? One wonders, if they could speak from the other world, how would our sisters, who have died at the hands of their romantic partners, describe their final moments? These are the thoughts that ran through my mind yesterday when I received news of Rebecca Cheptegei’s death.
Eliud Kipchoge: The limping G.O.A.T.

Aug 28, 2024 | nation.africa | Cellestine Olilo

If there’s one enduring, archetypal Kenyan trait, it’s the urge to hype up our sporting heroes and then give them a damn good shoeing when they don’t deliver. We might not be world-beaters at football, but, when it comes to pathetic armchair trolling, we’re peerless. In this respect, the story of Eliud Kipchoge is a thoroughly fitting case study. When Eliud exploded onto the international scene by setting a world junior record for the 5000m in 2003, we scattered rose petals at his feet.
Delay in publishing Kenya’s Olympics list breeding speculation

Jul 18, 2024 | nation.africa | Cellestine Olilo

According to the dictionary, a revolution, the kind that is happening in Kenya now, refers to a sudden, extreme, or complete change in the way people live or work. A usually violent attempt by many people to end the rule of one government and start a new one. But amid the spirited attempts by Kenyan youth to address the historical horrors witnessed in Kenyan politics over the years, there is one that, for now, is sticking out.
Speak and be damned: All is not well with our gallant Junior Starlets

Jul 4, 2024 | nation.africa | Cellestine Olilo

After a turbulent buildup and qualification process, the never-say-die attitude and resilience of Kenya Under-17 women's team has seen them etch their name in the history books as the first Kenyan team to qualify for a Fifa World Cup tournament. Although we wish them well, it would be a stretch to expect them to return home with the trophy from their maiden appearance, or even to get out of the preliminary phase of the tournament. A win or two will be good enough.
Focus on girls’ professional qualities, not looks

Jun 20, 2024 | nation.africa | Cellestine Olilo

What you need to know:I’ve never heard anyone refer to Harambee Stars as “handsome boys” in an introduction. Warembo when used in reference to a team is an example of benevolent sexism. Before I proceed, can someone, preferably in his communications department, take Waziri Ababu Namwamba’s hand, lead him to one of the black leather seats in his office, the cushy black three-seater, sit him down and tell him slowly and in a calm voice to stop referring to the Junior Starlets team as “warembo”?
Firat and Harambee Stars management letting team down

Jun 13, 2024 | nation.africa | Cellestine Olilo

What you need to know:Against Cote d’Ivoire, the onus was on coach Firat to make the necessary tweaks to ensure victory. We are not asking enough questions regarding the decision to make late callups to the team. I remember like it was yesterday, that afternoon of March 23, 2013.
Fix mess in stadiums once and for all

Jun 6, 2024 | nation.africa | Cellestine Olilo

Everything hangs on them, but little changes. For many weeks and months over the last five years, stadium closures have dominated sports life. This publication ran a series on the state of sports infrastructure for more than a year, which cast a timely spotlight on the various stadia across the counties, leading to the closure of many of them amid furious and frantic construction works.