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Kenya 7s seeded top in Africa Rio 2016 qualifiers

Xinhua, July 30, 2015 Adjust font size:

Troubled Kenya' s team has been seeded top in the Rio 2016 Olympics men rugby sevens qualifiers that take place in South Africa in November.

The Kenya Sevens side, who are ranked second in the continent after already qualified South Africa, failed to punch an automatic ticket after failing to among the top four in the 2014/15 World Rugby Sevens Series.

This is the third week the team has stayed away from training following a dispute between Kenya Rugby Union (KRU), coaches and senior players.

According to the draw seen on Thursday, Kenya are ranked top of a 12-nation competition with the pools for final qualifiers set for Nov. 13 and 14 to be announced later.

The country was exempted from the preliminary rounds owing to their Core Status in the World Series with Zimbabwe, who failed to join the elite circuit after losing a play-off against Russia installed as the second seeds.

Tunisia, Namibia, Uganda, Madagascar, Senegal, Zambia, Morocco, Mauritius, Nigeria and Botswana complete the line-up for the qualifiers where the winner will enter the Olympics where rugby sevens will make its debut next year.

KRU is not keen to extend its and some of the seasoned stars contracts after a dispute over pay and training facilities.

Team Manager, Steve Sewe, hopes a resolution to the conflict that threatens to derail their push to qualify for the Olympics will be found soon, with the start of the 2015/17 World Rugby Series also on the horizon. Endi