By Fredrick Nadulli aka Razor,
FKF,the body mandated by FIFA to run football in Kenya is overstepping its jurisdiction and behaving badly.Needless to say,it is becoming a national disgrace and making this country a laughing stock before the international community.
Meanwhile the KPL,the body that administers the league,amid all the grandstanding and distractions,has quietly steered club football to unprecedented heights while keeping within the realms of professional lines.
For all the love-hate relationship,these two bodies are now embroiled in a bitter spat that threatens to eat into the Kenyan football fabric.
PROMOTION FIASCO
A walk down memory lane reveals that the present Kenyan Premier League (KPL) exists only because of the shortcomings of the Football Kenya Limited (FKF).Disgruntled clubs,tired of manipulations and unprofessionalism by the FKF,broke away to form their own league in 2008.
So strong and focused was the new league that it did not take long for other key participants to jump on board,chief among them pay television channel Supersport.Suffice is to say the rest is history.The championship has grown in leaps and bounds.
The 2014 edition has just concluded,winners feted and two bottom clubs relegated,as per rules and regulations that govern the running of the sport.Ordinarily,those slots are taken by two promoted from the low tier.
Now comes the rider.
The FKF,in their wisdom or lack of it,have authoritatively declared that two teams will be relegated alright,but four promoted,to expand the league to eighteen teams for the 2015 season.The KPL has dug in its heels,adamant that only two will be promoted.A real supremacy battle.
Truth be told,KPL has had its own pitfalls and goofs running the league,which are not unique to them,but compared to where Kenyan football was under FKF,the gulf is alarmingly glaring.The latter has many a time meddled in the affairs of KPL,but this one seems to be the grand one,the mother of all.Lest we forget,the championship is over but there is still a pending fixture.
FKF has a hand in this.Remember the Tusker-Muhoroni outcome?FKF’s fingerprints were allover the crime scene.
Invariably,what sets KPL and FKF apart is that the former allows itself to be governed by statutes which dictate their every decision and/or arguement.They have independent bodies under them that are bound by laid down rules and regulations.FKF on the other hand has little or no platforms that it can base its decisions on.
On this promotion saga,they have no basis to justify the extra promotion slots,apart of course from trying to gain undue mileage.Its a populist gimmick that threatens to drag back gains made so far.For a league to be transparent and seen to be so,every participant must EARN their place.
And while the mind is bound to go on a trip,serious aspersions have been cast about the way a team from Gusii earned promotion to the top flight.With all due respect to them and their technical bench,they will be a marked target in the premier league next year and may not survive the dodgy terrain.
KEEP YOUR PORTFOLIO
World body FIFA recognises FKF as its assembly member and Kenya’s representative in its congress,that is their right.It would however be prudent and wise if FKF fried the proverbial bigger fish and let KPL concentrate on the “small” matter of running the league.Some of their decisions may rub some people the wrong way,but at least they are bound by statutes.There is nothing as clever as arguing with facts.
KPL is doing pretty well thus far,the least FKF can do is to step aside.KPL has binding contracts with other stakeholders for the betterment of the game.These unecessary side shows will only slow down their rolling juggernaut and throw a spanner into the works.
Ultimately,the spill-over effects will be drastic and far reaching.Kenya youth cannot afford that,just to satisfy the whims of a few individuals with blind ambitions.
