KPL: It’s about quality, not quantity
What you need to know:
- On Monday, FKF had unilaterally handed Nakumatt and Homeboyz the nod to join the top-tier league alongside Posta Rangers and Shabana, who topped their respective National Super League’s zones to earn a ticket to the top flight.
- In a statement, KPL’s Chief Executive Jack Oguda, on behalf of the league’s Executive Committee, said the expansion will bring with it “huge financial ramifications to the clubs which are already struggling to make ends meet”.
The Kenyan Premier League has come out strongly to oppose Football Kenya Federation’s (FKF) proposal for an 18-team league in the 2015 season.
KPL, which wants to maintain a 16-team league, Tuesday backed its argument with statistics from other African countries.
The survey shows that only Egypt and Nigeria have 20-team leagues in the continent while Cape Verde, which has an 18-team league, has sub-divided it into three zones of six each for ease of management.
On Monday, FKF had unilaterally handed Nakumatt and Homeboyz the nod to join the top-tier league alongside Posta Rangers and Shabana, who topped their respective National Super League’s zones to earn a ticket to the top flight.
In a statement, KPL’s Chief Executive Jack Oguda, on behalf of the league’s Executive Committee, said the expansion will bring with it “huge financial ramifications to the clubs which are already struggling to make ends meet”.
“We discussed the increased league format during the 2004 Fifa Normalisation Committee and the Cairo Agreements with the involvement and participation of Fifa, Caf, the government, clubs and the Federation. A formula was agreed to reduce the league from 24 to 16 in order to have a high quality, competitive, marketable and professional League.
RELEGATION AND PROMOTION
“The standards have since improved and we still insist on quality as opposed to quantity,” Oguda said.
“On November 14, the KPL Governing Council also met and opposed the 18-team league and confirmed that the 2015 season will be a 16-team league.
“The sporting integrity dictates that the relegation and promotion is decided at the beginning of the season by all participating clubs and the relegation and promotion is bottom two clubs are relegated and the top two in the lower division promote.”
