Fifa intervention part and parcel of the Kenyan game
Kenya Football Federation chairman Alfred Sambu (left) receives a token from Fifa/Kenya Football Federation Normalisation Committee chairman Kipchoge Keino at Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi in 2004. Kenyan football is headed the “normalisation” way following the current impasse in the management of the game. PHOTO | FILE |
What you need to know:
- Crisis at FKF without an executive and a mandate
The Sports Disputes Tribunal on Tuesday said it would write to world football governing body Fifa advising it to form a ''normalisation committee'' to set the groundwork for Football Kenya Federation (FKF) elections that have twice been declared annulled.
FKF President Nick Mwendwa exuded confidence that Fifa would “act with the best interest of football” despite the fact that the ruling by the SDT, under the chairmanship of John Ohaga, was largely not in favour of the federation.
The bone of contention has always been the “eligibility criteria” for those wishing to unseat the incumbent, especially Section Four in the FKF Electoral Code 2020. SDT agreed with aggrieved candidates, including former federation boss Sam Nyamweya, that the criteria were meant to lock out potential candidates.
“We request that Fifa appoints a 'normalisation committee' for the purpose of, inter alia, holding elections of the FKF,” the ruling by SDT reads.
It will be interesting to see how Fifa reacts to the situation.
“Fifa is currently analysing the situation. Further steps will be communicated in due course,” a Fifa spokesperson told Nation Sport.
Should Fifa go ahead and form the ''normalisation committee'', a likely scenario, then this will not be the first time it happens in Kenya.
It happened in the 1960s and 1980s but most recently in 2004.
Fifa formed a normalisation committee to manage the affairs of Kenya Football Federation (KFF) after its Emergency Committee suspended the national body on June 2, 2004.
This was because of government interference in the business of the KFF and violation of Fifa Statutes.
KFF, led by Maina Kariuki, had not held elections after the expiry of their four-year term.
Kipchoge Keino, who was then the president of the Kenyan National Olympic Committee, was appointed the chairperson of the ''normalisation committee'' with his main role, according to Fifa, “to resolve the problems in Kenyan football and to set up a sound basis for the future.”
The ''normalisation committee'' was composed of the then chairman of the Kenyan Football Federation Maina Kariuki, four club representatives (two representatives of the KFF official league, Mark Ageng and Kadir Farah, two representatives of the rebel league, Bob Munro and Mathews Guy).
Others were six representatives of grassroots football (Haroun Bomet, Erasmus Munyi, Peter Angwenyi, Mbarak Said, Peter Onalo, Noordin Taib), one coach (Sammy Nyongesa), one referee (Aziz Mohamed), one player's representative (Albert Oketch) and, as an observer, one representative from the Sports Ministry.
“Wrangles in the federation were at the peak then and some clubs were threatening to form a splinter federation.
“This (formation of the normalisation committee) was meant to keep the game going and avoid a full-blown crisis,” said Roy Gachuhi, a veteran sports journalist.
In October 2006, Fifa banned Kenya again for failing to comply with a directive to form an 18-team league.
