For how long must we put up with these wrangles?

It’s strange how football club administrators in this country reason.

The ongoing power struggle between Football Kenya Federation (FKF) and the Kenyan Premier League (KPL) provides a perfect case study of the warped mindset of those we’ve entrusted with running the sport.

But now that the matter is in court, I will only delve into what this conflict portends to the players’ welfare.

At the onset of this feud, the two warring factions attempted to make the public believe that their bone of contention was merely the composition and structure of the top flight league.

But judging from the course this long drawn-out battle has recently taken, it is clear that the issue of the number of teams was just a smoke screen meant to delude the unsuspecting public.

Why do I say so?

In modern day football, issues such as the number of clubs to be promoted or relegated are normally decided prior to the start of the season to allow all the competing clubs to prepare and plan for the competition.

Ironically, in our case — and strangely so — the issue of an expanded league only came up towards the end of last season.

Sadly, the whole saga has not only dragged on at a painfully slow pace but has practically brought the top-flight league on its knees, pending the court ruling on the matter.

PLAYERS' LIVELIHOOD

The net effect is that the livelihood of the more than 400 players drawn from the 16 clubs in the top-flight league has been jeopardised for political expediency.

All players in the 16 clubs playing in the KPL came from the lower leagues but are now leading an improved lifestyle, a proof that these clubs are employers of significant proportions of football players in the country.

This is a fact that cannot be wished away in the manner FKF is attempting to do through the court injunction that has put all KPL fixtures on hold while, on the other hand, introducing a new FKF Premier League with a whole lot of 16 newly-promoted clubs.

To put it more simply, players from clubs in the KPL are now at the risk of losing their jobs if KPL loses the court case and all the 16 clubs are locked out of the competition.

There can be no deny the fact that KPL clubs are serious investors in the sports industry and therefore key stakeholders who deserve respect and audience from the football authorities in the country.

The other concern is that the clubs in the FKF Premier League which have purportedly replaced the errant ones from KPL lack the experience and exposure required in the top flight league.

Furthermore, most of the promoted clubs are financially incapacitated much more than their KPL counterparts.

FINANCIAL ASPECTS

Of course this means that by and large these teams run high risks of failure to meet their wage bills and other operational costs that come with competing at this level of the game.

That many clubs in the presumed lucrative KPL — including established teams such as Gor Mahia, AFC Leopards and Sofapaka — have continuously struggled with the financial aspects of the competition vindicates my point here.

This is indeed very worrying for the simple reason that the standards of the league will be greatly watered down with a trickledown effect on the quality of players in the national team.

Kenyan football has come a long way since my playing days in the 1980s and while some may argue that our game has taken a retrogressive path in recent times, there have been many gains that have been attained along the way.

And since it’s impossible to foretell how long it will take the court to resolve this matter, it is only prudent for the antagonists to carefully weigh the pros and cons of their turf wars.

For the sake of the ambitious young lads honing their skills in this industry and for the sake of their families and dependants, the future employees of this lucrative yet endangered sector, it would not be such a bad idea for Football Kenya Federation and the Kenyan Premier League to find a common ground and put to an end suffering of the players.

Perhaps, they could start by agreeing to have an 18-team league in the 2016 season.