Kenya talent gap could be solved by using foreign players

• Kenyan Premier League has a total of 31 foreign players. Some have lived here for years as refugees and are eligible to play for Harambee Stars

If Fifa president Sepp Blatter is to be believed, then this has to be the biggest issue that faces world football. No, not diving, or Premiership hegemony, or even the tackle from behind, but rather the naturalisation of good foreign players.

“If we don’t take care about the invaders from Brazil,” Blatter was quoted as saying during the draw for the 2010 World Cup. “Then at the next World Cups... we will have 16 teams full of Brazilian players. It’s a danger, a real, real danger.”

Should football players with no real ties or affiliation to a country, other than residency obtained after five years, be allowed to play in those countries’ national teams?

There was a time when playing for one’s country really meant something. A strong sense of belonging and identity was what drove you to wear the shirt — to carry with pride the hopes and expectations of an entire nation.

Nowadays, however, the lure of playing international football, and the perks that come with it, suggest that national pride is not what it once was. In the ever-changing sports world, players often move around looking for clubs to meet their high wage demands, but should they be allowed to represent the country in which they’re playing at international level without having laid down any real roots at all?

That Germany’s Kevin Kuranyi could have played for Hungary (his father’s other antecedent), Panama (his mother’s nationality) or Brazil (he was born in Rio de Janeiro) suggests Fifa’s rules are flexible enough.

Jack Charlton’s Republic of Ireland reached a succession of tournaments in part because of keen exploitation of the “granny rule”.

Recently, however, there has been a new development.

When Fabio Capello was asked by Sky Sports why the English system is failing to generate young players of the calibre of Germany’s Thomas Muller and Mesut Ozil, the England manager swivelled in his chair. An innocuous question had touched a nerve.

“They (Germany) play players with different passports. Khedira, Podolski, Ozil, Boateng,” the England manager said.

“Germany didn’t produce good players for a long time. They have players coming from U21. Technically they are very good. We hope to find the same in England, but you have to understand in Germany there are 70 million people. In England there are 60 million, but for me, one of the reasons is that there are only 38 per cent English players in the Premier League.”

Coaches and governments have realised that while countries are not allowed to use the transfer market to strengthen teams, they can use helpful immigration laws.

Which leads me to the Kenya question.

Passport pragmatism could be the way to plug Kenya’s skills gap. Football may have to follow rugby and cricket in embracing foreign talent to bolster the national team.

According to the current Kenyan Constitution, Section 93 states, among other requirements, that a person eligible to be naturalised as a Kenya citizen is a person who:

a.  Has attained the age of twenty-one years;

b.  Has been ordinarily and lawfully resident in Kenya for the period of 12 months immediately preceding his application;

a. Satisfies the minister that he is of good character.

b. Satisfies the minister that he has an adequate knowledge of the Swahili language; and

c. satisfies the minister that he intends... to continue to reside in Kenya.

Unlike many of his peers in Kenya who have had a smooth ride to top-flight football, Congolese footballer, Bob Mugalia has seen it all and now wants to play for the Kenya national team, Harambee Stars.

Nearly four years ago, he was forced out of his motherland, the Congo DR, not for the search of “greener pastures” but to duck from unending gunshots in his home town.

According to the player, who has been given a five-year refugee status in Kenya, people were killing each other indiscriminately in Goma. It was very dangerous to stay there, and he decided to flee.

“At that time, some of my family members and friends had been killed. The thought of dying crossed my mind and, for sure, I wasn’t prepared for that,” he reminisces.

The forward, who has also played for Rwandan giants Rayon Sport and DRC’s Bukavu Dawa, was instrumental in helping his current Kenya Premier League side, Sofapaka, gain promotion to the KPL. He scored an impressive 17 goals on their way to the top ranks.

“In July 2006, I was forced to plead with a Kenyan truck driver who happened to know me to get me out of the DRC. After a two-day trip that looked like a lifetime, we got here. A refugee friend of mine introduced me to Maos Church, which sponsors Sofapaka FC.”

And from that point onwards, the 21-year old has never relented and he is now aiming to play for Harambee Stars.

“I don’t have any family members. I just don’t know their whereabouts. Kenya is my home, and I have nowhere else to go. Should that opportunity (wearing the national colours) arise, I wouldn’t let it pass,” he says.

“I think Kenya needs more strikers and I know that given the chance, I can prove my worth.”

Some national teams have been far from reserved in welcoming foreign players into their ranks. Some countries have, however, benefited a lot from these “foreigners.” Germany has looked far and wide to fill the attacking void created by the retirement of Jurgen Klinsmann and Oliver Bierhoff.

Their list of naturalised imports includes Fredi Bobic (Slovenia), Sean Dundee (South Africa), Oliver Neuville (French Swiss), Gerald Asamoah (Ghana), Kevin Kuranyi (Hungary/Brazil) and Miroslav Klose (Poland).

Mugalia has vowed to overcome his not-so-splendid past as he seeks to let his name felt at the local scene.

“Football has been my sport since I was a small boy and everyday, I believe that my form keeps on improving,” he says.

Born in 1991, Mugalia started playing football while still in school at Espoir Primary and Secondary in his Bukavu, DRC, birthplace.