Football stakeholders table demands ahead of FKF polls

Stakeholders want the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) elections to start from the grassroots, all the way to the national level.

During a meeting held in Nairobi on Friday, football stakeholders said the crisis in the management of the sport and resultant deterioration is due to an acute shortage of good and effective leadership, pervasive culture of impunity and lack of accountability.

“Football has remained in an extended but certainly underserved state of limbo. The dismal performance of the game in Kenya in the past two decades has been caused either by lack of talent, good governance and a culture of accountability on one hand, and the infection of football leadership by the mediocrity of the national politics on the other hand,” the statement read by former Kenya Football Federation treasurer, Noordine Taib Koor, said.

“Our main agenda is to articulate and defend the vision of football in Kenya, to contribute towards, and enable the election of qualified, credible and visionary leaders committed to being accountable to stakeholders in Kenya.”

They demanded that all clubs registered with the Sports Registrar be allowed to participate in the election and that no club should be left out during the election period.

They said a good number of Kenyan Premier League (KPL) clubs were improperly registered, hence failing to honour their league matches. The want clubs licensed afresh prior to the elections.

The officials also want top three officials of the clubs to be allowed to vote to ensure accountability and transparency in the election.

They equally want the 2016 FKF constitution be registered with the Sports Registrar, failure to which the polls will be null and void.

The forum was attended by former internationals including Titus Mulama and Mike Otieno. They said that endless squabbles are derailing football development.