NAIROBI, Kenya, July 6, 2026 – Former Harambee Stars captain Victor Wanyama has expressed a desire to coach the national team in the near future.
Wanyama, who played 64 games for Stars, says he is currently taking his coaching badges and hopes to come back to the team in the near future in a coaching capacity.
“It is not yet time but I am continuing with my coaching education. One day, once I get my coaching badges, as well as experience, I’d love to come back and help Harambee Stars,” he said.
The midfield lynchpin retired in April this year after a colourful career, which began as a barefoot youngster to a globetrotting superstar marshalling the middle of the park for the likes of Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur and Celtic.
At the international level, he wore the armband for the national team as Harambee Stars returned to the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) in 2019 in Egypt, 15 years after their last appearance in 2004 in Tunisia.
Meditating on his journey from the bottom to the top, Wanyama testified that the game has given so much to him.
“Football has given me so much…looking back to my childhood, I came from a sporting family. We used to play barefoot on the streets. It was a long pathway that we took to the top. Training here in Kenya was very difficult because no one could see me…no one could scout me. I thank my brother (MacDonald Mariga) who got me to train with an academy in Sweden from where my career took off,” the 34-year-old said.
He was speaking on the sidelines after unveiling a two-year partnership with betting firm 22 Bet at the Iconic Plaza Hotel in Nairobi.
The partnership comes ahead of the launch of the Victor Wanyama Academy in Nairobi at the end of July.
It is an appendage of a bigger academy in Wanyama’s hometown of Busia, and he is excited about the possibilities of the Nairobi branch, coupled with his partnership with 22 Bet.
“With our partnership with 22 Bet, we can help our local communities. We are launching the Victor Wanyama Academy at the end of July. We don’t want today’s youngsters to go through the challenges we went through during our days. We want to shorten the pathway to the top by providing them with the facilities that are available in Europe,” he said.
Speaking at the same time, 22 Bet Country Manager Joash Ajuoga said their partnership with Wanyama fits like a hand to a glove considering ex-Harambee Stars skipper’s experiential knowledge of grassroots development.
“We are very committed to CSR by engaging with the local community and the only way to do that is by partnering with someone who has gone through it all. Someone who can teach us how it should be and can be done. We will partner with Victor to ensure the initiatives he has across the country and Africa are successful,” Ajuoga said.
Also present at the function was Harambee Stars’ performance analyst Nick Kimathi who praised the initiative and its impact on Kenya’s future as a footballing nation.
