PRETORIA, June 17./ITAR-TASS/. Kenya President Uhuru Kenyatta honoured his pledge to sponsor the national football team to travel to Brazil to watch the ongoing World Cup finals.

Kenya has never qualified for the world's greatest football showpiece but Kenyatta said the trip would provide the players with the inspiration to fight and qualify for the 2018 finals in Russia.

"My wife and I sponsor Harambee Stars, not to participate but to watch the World Cup to give them inspiration," Kenyatta said while handing the team their air-tickets. "We hope that Harambee Stars will be motivated by what they see in Brazil, and even be encouraged to do better and qualify for future World Cups."

AFP reported that eighteen players and four officials were making the trip, due to a pledge Kenyatta made to the team after winning the regional Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup tournament in Nairobi last December.