The Turkish tactician has been under pressure from stakeholders and fans following his failure to secure a ticket to the 35th edition of the tournament to be held in the North African nation.
Kenya, who were chasing for a seventh at the tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), failed to seal a ticket after finishing third in Group J which consisted of winners Cameroon, second-placed Zimbabwe and Namibia, who finished last.
Kenya started their campaign with a 0-0 draw against Zimbabwe, recovered to beat the Brave Warriors of Namibia 2-1 before two back-to-back defeats against the Indomitable Lions shattered their hopes. Cameroon won the first meeting before winning the second 1-0 in Uganda.
Kenya finished off their campaign with a 1-1 draw against the Warriors of Zimbabwe before concluding their group matches with a 0-0 draw against Namibia.
The outcome elicited a lot of debate with several former players and officials calling for the sacking of Firat. Former Harambee Stars striker Elijah Onsika led the chorus when he told Flashscore: “We have seen enough of this coach (Firat). I don’t know what else FKF, who hired him, want to see beyond what we have seen, it is time they cracked the whip and sent him packing.
"He has failed us, he has failed the country and the longer he continues to stay the tough it will get for those Kenyans yawning for positive results from Harambee Stars.”
Cabinet Secretary for Sports Kipchumba Murkomen had hinted that the government will stop funding Firat’s salary for his failure to take Kenya to Morocco.
“Since we were the ones who were funding the coach as a Ministry, we will upon the period being attained and the circumstances that have befallen the coach, as a result of failing to qualify, it is rather obvious that of course we will implement that section of the law and we will not remit any other funds beyond the period that was agreed,” said Murkomen.
Firat finally throws in the towel
Firat has now exclusively told Flashcore that he has resigned following the comments from Murkomen.
“I have terminated my contract after this CS (Murkomen) talked so much about me, but let Football Kenya Federation (FKF) make the announcement,” Firat told Flashscore on Wednesday, December 11th.
When reached for comment on whether he was aware of Firat’s decision to quit, newly elected Football Kenya Federation (FKF) President Hussein Mohammed confirmed that the coach had indeed tendered his resignation with grounds of pending arrears.
“I want to confirm that Firat’s termination reached me yesterday (Tuesday) in the evening, I was not privy to it and definitely we will do an internal audit first on the claims of arrears (owed to him) and once the report comes out, we will deal with the matter but the grounds of termination is the pending arrears,” said Mohammed.
The former Moldova coach leaves the Harambee Stars after managing 23 matches since replacing Jacob ‘Ghost’ Mulee. He registered seven wins, seven draws and nine defeats.
His first game in charge saw Kenya suffer a 5-0 defeat against Mali in a World Cup qualifier before he lost 1-0 to the same side. Kenya then drew 1-1 against Uganda and Firat got his first win - 2-1 - against Rwanda.
He then lost 2-1 against Iran in an international friendly, beat Pakistan 1-0, lost 1-0 against Mauritius, beat Qatar 2-1, lost 1-0 against South Sudan before forcing Russia to a 2-2 draw in his 10th match in charge.
His 11th match took him to Gabon where Kenya suffered a 2-1 defeat but he recovered to hammer Seychelles 5-0. Kenya then thumped Malawi 4-0, before they beat Zimbabwe 3-1 to lift their first-ever trophy - the Four Nation tournament - under Firat.
Kenya started their 2026 World Cup qualifiers with a 1-1 draw against Burundi, drew 0-0 against African champions Ivory Coast before drawing 0-0 against Zimbabwe in their 2025 AFCON opener.
They recovered to beat Namibia 2-1, before losing twice to Cameroon - 4-1 and 1-0 - and then 2-0 to South Sudan in the qualifiers for the 2024 Africa Nations Championship (CHAN). Though Kenya have already qualified for CHAN being the host nation, they failed to beat South Sudan in the return fixture drawing 1-1.
Kenya then played Zimbabwe, a game that ended their AFCON dream after drawing 1-1 and concluded their group matches with a 0-0 draw against Namibia.
