The mean, bad and ugly of Kenyan football plays out for all to see

After a lull in the Football Kenya Federation /Kenya Premier League feud, events exploded this week.

It began on Wednesday with the federation stating that their version of an 18-team competition called the FKF Premier League would commence on February 14.

Things got more interesting when it was revealed that FKF had received the Fifa report with recommendations on the composition of the league but refused to release it. Once the cat was out of the bag all hell broke loose.

The first sign that there was real trouble was when FKF officials met KPL representatives a few days before but didn’t tell them they had the report.

At that point one could not blame KPL. FKF had been fooling them by not releasing the crucial information contained in the Fifa report.

The previous weekend, Cabinet Secretary for Sports Hassan Wario had ordered the two parties to clear the mess they’d created, which showed that the government was being dragged into what was increasingly becoming a very bloody spat.

The world governing body Fifa also got sucked into the tussle by ordering FKF to release the report. KPL at this point realised that they were being taken for a ride.

So the league body responded by announcing in no uncertain terms that their 16-team league would go ahead in its current format. The federation immediately rebutted by announcing the formation of an FKF league.

They subsequently retreated to Kakamega for a Special General Meeting on Friday that endorsed their national league.

Meanwhile, Wario on Thursday summoned the warring parties. KPL boss Jack Oguda said he had not received formal summons from the CS but would honour any meeting with the government.

On the other hand FKF were already on their way to Kakamega for the SGM when word went around regarding the summons!

Sources claim some referees don’t support the FKF league because they are owed money from last season.

The federation have enough on their plate. They have other leagues and branches to run, so why be so adamant on taking over the Premier League?

This appears to be a one-man show, with other officials either afraid or unable to speak, or do football sycophants have vested interests. The question is: is FKF one person or is one person FKF?

Sponsors’ patience is running out and donor fatigue will set in if a solution is not found soon. Fifa Secretary General Jerome Valcke has called for a local solution, and once again Kenya is attracting the attention of the world governing body for all the wrong reasons.

The countdown to the FKF elections in October appears to have started in earnest and the federation leadership seems to be strengthening its position with the branches toeing the line.

In other football news, the drama continues at AFC Leopards. The Kenya National Sports Council has endorsed the change of line-up in management, recognizing the Matthews Opwora administration — and Opwora’s first action was to appoint Dutchman Jan Koops as head coach.

On the pitch, Kenyan Premier League champions Gor Mahia will play Power Dynamos of Zambia in a high-profile warm up for their continental assignments this season.

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KRU OFFICIALS SHOULD FOCUS ON REBUILDING

I have been pleasantly surprised to find the Kenya Rugby Union (KRU) moving in the right direction so quickly following the turmoil of last month when the sport was torn apart by the resignation of the chairman Mwangi Muthee and two directors from the board, along with Kenya Sevens coach Paul Treu.

Under the temporary leadership of Gabriel Ouko, the board has unified itself (at least on paper), and also handed women’s director Paula Lanco the task of handling the union’s Public Relations.

Effectively Lanco is the mouthpiece of the KRU, which means that the days of reporters, stakeholders and the public getting direct access to national teams and members of the board are over.

This is a massive step in the right direction and my question is why didn’t this happen much earlier?

It appears that the events of last year were a wake up call, and unlike sports like football and athletics, rugby stakeholders decided to arrest the slide before the situation got out of control. They decided that the game and the players are bigger than them.

The KRU also realised that the much maligned Kenya Sevens is the jewel in the crown of the sport, and they’ve finally given the squad and its technical bench the space they require to get the boys back on track ahead of the 2015 IRB assignments.

There is a lot at stake: staying out of the relegation zone and qualifying for the Rio 2016 Olympics.

This means all stakeholders and the public being denied access to the squad, including board members, who have been accused of interference in the past.

Another interesting development is the investigation of alleged financial and administrative improprieties by members of the board last year, along with an audit of the 2014 accounts.

Rugby lovers will follow this keenly, and the credibility of the union will be at stake, with the reputations of several individuals being on the line.

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I fully support the decision by the Kenya Motorsports Federation to move the Safari Rally back to its traditional Easter date.

I’ve personally felt that the event had lost direction since it lost its status in the World Rally Championship in 2003 (it was last in the series the year before), with all kinds of attempts to return the event proving fruitless.

The FIA seem determined to undermine the rally, and last year’s damning report was the final straw for the KMSF, who’d pulled out all the stops and received glowing reviews from the drivers.

Withdrawing the event from the Africa Rally Championship may actually prove to be a blessing in disguise.