FKL stutters amid fans’ fury

• Harambee Stars’ loss to 188th-ranked Guinea Bissau has provoked heated debate and calls for overhaul of the technical bench and disbandment of FKL top management

Football Kenya Limited has called for calm following the near-hysterical reaction in the country to Harambee Stars’ 1-0 loss to minnows Guinea Bissau in their opening Africa Cup of Nations qualifier.

“This was an away match. We need to be given the technical report to study before deciding the next course of action,” acting secretary-general Patrick Naggi, three weeks into his new job, said on Tuesday.

Stars’ loss to the country ranked 188th by Fifa has provoked heated debate among local football fans, with many calling for the overhaul of the technical bench and disbandment of the entire FKL top management.

Kenya Football Federation chairman Sam Nyamweya called on the government to compel the FKL executive to resign for a new start in Kenyan football.

“This is not the time for us to pull in different directions. When going to war we need to put aside our differences,” Naggi said.

Naggi’s statement is not lost on the current differences within the KPL executive following the elevation of former KFF secretary Hussein Swaleh to the position of chairman of the technical committee to replace Titus Kasuve.

Meanwhile, at FKL, Joseph Malu was ejected from the secretary-general’s post.

The changes in the executive, made last month, reportedly did not seem to sit well with the company’s senior vice-chairman Kasuve.

In an interview last week, Swaleh intimated that some members of the executive were not happy with his appointment and were frustrating Harambee Stars’ preparations.

Player discontent over Oliech

There have also been reports of player discontent over the team management-instigated appointment of Dennis Oliech as captain against the players’ choice of Robert Mambo, as well as coach Twahir Muhiddin’s selection of players during matches.

These are questions Muhiddin will be expected to answer when the team jets back in Nairobi at 5am on Wednesday after a 48-hour delay.

Stars failed to arrive on Monday morning as originally scheduled after bad weather in Bissau prevented their planned flight from taking off on Sunday.

They eventually left Bissau on Monday after a rain-delayed departure but landed in Dakar, Senegal, too late to catch the late-night connection to Nairobi.

Their woes began even before they left the country last week when FKL could not raise money for air tickets. The government ended up purchasing the tickets two days before their fixture with Guinea Bissau.

Stars can however take heart from the memory of their successful qualifications for the 1972 and 1990 Nations Cup finals even after starting off with away losses to Ethiopia and Sudan, respectively.