By John Nene BBC Sport

Kenya's former Sports Minister Najib Balala wants Fifa to delay their meeting

Kenya's former Sports Minister Najib Balala wants Fifa to postpone next Friday's meeting in Zurich to discuss the country's footballing problems.

Balala says the new Minister, Ochillo Ayacko, needs more time to familiarise himself with the problems in the sport in Kenya.

Ayacko took over from Balala on Wednesday as part of a larger cabinet reshuffle announced by Kenya President Mwai Kibaki.

"For now Fifa will have to postpone the meeting to be fair to Ayacko," Balala told BBC Sport.

"It's not possible for him to address the issues to be discussed in Zurich after only one week in the ministry.

"Fifa should stop dealing with the government through the media and send us an official invitation.

"As far as I'm concerned, there's no letter from Fifa inviting us for the meeting," Balala added.

However BBC Sport has received a copy of the official letter addressed to Balala by Fifa which was sent and faxed from Zurich on 16 June.

Balala had been invited by Fifa for a round-table meeting to resolve the differences between the Kenyan government and officials of the Kenya Football Federation (KFF).

The KFF's executive committee was disbanded by Balala in March because of what he said was mismanagement and corruption.

After prolonged arguments Fifa suspended Kenya indefinitely from international competitions citing government interference in the sport.

Meanwhile, Fifa deputy secretary-general Jerome Champagne has said that they are ready to work with anybody appointed by the Kibaki government

"We recognise the sovereignty of Kenya and we welcome the new Minister hoping that he'll come to Zurich for this important meeting,'' Champagne said.

The 9 July meeting in Zurich was also due to involve KFF chairman Maina Kariuki and the secretary-general Hussein Swaleh.