NAIROBI, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- The Kenya Rugby Union (KRU) has announced it will not renew the contract of national rugby union team coach Ian Snook Tuesday.
KRU chairman Richard Omwela acknowledged that the union is facing financial constraints, making it not ideal to renew the contract of the New Zealand coach after his current one-year deal expires.
Snook and his assistant Murray Roulston are currently in New Zealand. Their contracts will end in April.
"He came in with firm plans to help Kenya qualify for the 2019 World Cup. That's all we wanted," said Omwela.
However, the coach failed in his assignment, partly owing to poor organization and a lack of ideal development structures within KRU, as Kenya lost out to Namibia in the Africa Gold Cup, the qualifying tournament for the World Cup.
Kenya also failed to win a single match in the repechage qualifiers, which were staged in Marseille, France in November 2018, and will wait another four years before reviving their hopes of a maiden World Cup appearance.
Snook took charge of Kenya's rugby team in March 2018, months after the team had parted ways with former coach South African Jerome Paarwater.
With no World Cup on the horizon, the KRU's immediate plans for the team are unclear, and it is unknown if they will play any test matches this season.
Kenya officials also said they were uncertain whether the team would compete in the regional Elgon Cup, a tournament contested by the national teams of Kenya and Uganda.
