Benni McCarthy on Why He Has Not Considered Quitting Harambee Stars Despite Challenges

Harambee Stars coach Benni McCarthy says his desire to see change in the management of the national team is one of the reasons he has not opted out of his job amid a number of challenging situations.

McCarthy has endured a frustrating week, having seen his players boycott training over unpaid allowances, before he revealed that even he and his coaching staff had pending salaries while he is yet to receive a work permit despite being Kenya national team coach since March 2025.

The South African tactician says even though it is a frustrating situation, quitting the job is yet to cross his mind because he wants to be part of the solution.

“When you have a contract and your contract is not being fulfilled then why must I be in a foreign country and people are not willing to honour what it says in the contract? It is sad,” he stated during an interview on Sporty TV.

“When you sing the same song over and over again, you start sounding like a broken record and I think the players will be like; ‘coach we really appreciate you and we respect you and love you but you can’t every time tell us that you have to do it for the love of the game’ because the love of the game doesn’t put food on the table or pay the bills,” he added.

McCarthy believes the strong stance taken by him and his players can help change things for good after so many broken promises.

“We have reached that stage where we want to the federation to take accountability for what has been going on and having the situation solved because I have been here almost a year-and-a-half and every single meeting that I had, it is over and over and they must probably be tired of me because I want things to run smoothly,” he said.

“I think Africa has so much potential and it is just the lack of management and how you make sure that that the national team is run well.

“That is the biggest thing and what I want to try and help here but it seems like people agree exactly with what you say but the minute you walk out of that meeting, they go and do their own thing again.”

McCarthy’s team will begin their 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Eritrea at Nyayo Stadium on Saturday but head into the match after just one session, conducted on Friday after the near week-long go slow.