Incessant wrangles leave KPL season in chaos even before kick-off

What you need to know:

  • Federation boss Mwendwa optimistic league will start next week
  • Nyamweya sues FKF, some fans ask court to delay league start while players suffer
  • FKF and KPL have been engaged in a long-drawn fight over whether the number of teams in the top flight should be 16 or 18.

Kenyan football is yet again in crisis following a fresh round of squabbling by top administrators affiliated to Football Kenya Federation and the Kenyan Premier League Limited.

These differences have inevitably spilled over to the courts of law and in the process delayed indefinitely the start of this season’s top flight football league originally scheduled to kick off on February 4.

Consequently, hundreds of professional players, coaches, match officials, administrators, stewards, security officials, production crews, amongst other, all of whom directly depend on the competition for their livelihoods, have been affected.

The stand-off, initially over the number of teams to play in the league, but now also over who is eligible to play has now entered the second month and severely affected the programme for the season.

Former Football Kenya Federation president Sam Nyamweya on Wednesday joined the fray when, he filed a case at the High Court in Nairobi seeking the suspension of the controversial club licensing rules, which FKF applied to relegate Sofapaka and Muhoroni Youth from the SportPesa Premier League last month.

“We are in a mess. All I am calling for is fairness in the way rules are being enforced. It seems Sofapaka and Muhoroni are being targeted and unfairly punished,” said Nyamweya. Another case is pending at the High Court in Kisumu.

It was filed by three football fans affiliated to Muhoroni and Sofapaka last week seeking to, among other things, delay the league’s kick-off, until a separate appeal - presented at the Sports and Disputes Tribunal - meant to determine whether or not the two teams will be readmitted to the top flight competition - is heard and ruled.

FKF and KPL have been engaged in a long-drawn fight over whether the number of teams in the top flight should be 16 or 18. The Sports Tribunal ruled that the two feuding bodies work on how to agree on an 18-team league.

“There are those who have long been benefiting from confusion in Kenyan football and they still believe there is a chance to do so under my watch. We have not taken anyone to court, and you should also know football matters cannot be heard in the courts of law because there is a tribunal. I expect this crisis to be resolved by this weekend and the league could start next week,” FKF president Nick Mwendwa said.

The squabbles have now become a part of Kenyan football to the detriment of the game.

UNEASY TRUCE

A similar quarrel between FKF and KPL occurred two years ago, ironically during Nyamweya’s reign. It resulted in several court battles, and required the intervention of both the government and Fifa.

The wrangling can be traced to the last decade when a group of clubs rebelled against the federation and started a parallel league.

Another stand off pitting the national body, then Kenya Football Federation, and top flight football clubs occurred in 2003. It resulted several dissatisfied clubs breaking away from the federation and forming a parallel league. The leagues later united under the Kenyan Premier League that has been running the competition on behalf of the federation in an uneasy truce.