No time to celebrate for Kariobangi Sharks after Shield glory

There is no time to celebrate for SportPesa Shield champions Kariobangi Sharks with little time left to prepare for the upcoming 2018/19 season, both locally and continentally.

Sharks, founded 18 years ago in the slums of Kariobangi, have 37 days to kick-off their 2018/19 Caf Confederation Cup campaign on November 27. A week later, they face league champions Gor Mahia in the traditional season opener - the Super Cup - before visiting AFC Leopards for their first game of the 2018/19 SportPesa Premier League season on December 8.

Unlike past seasons, this season will adopt a transitional calendar which allows the Caf club competitions to switch from the February to November schedule to an August-May one following the Caf Executive Committee decision July last year.

The upcoming season will start in the first weekend of December and end in May 2019, just before the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) tournament.

The development has seen the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) change the transfer window dates from previous December - January 31 to October 29 - January 4.

Gor and Sharks, who will represent the country in the Caf Confederation Cup and Champions League competitions respectively, have a short period left to make new signings in order to submit their final list of players top Caf by end of this month.

Sharks will be making their debut at the 16th edition of Africa’s second tier club competition with about Sh125 million at stake for the winners. They have to navigate past three rounds to reach the group stages.

“We are a youth-centric team thus we won’t be making massive signings but rather will stick to our youthful squad and if possible, promote a few from our junior side in preparation for continental fixtures,” Sharks chairman Robert Maoga said on Sunday.

Financially, Maoga said they do not expect to face challenges having secured a sponsorship with online lending application, Ganji, for an approximate Sh30 million annual package.

“We will also make early rounds at the ministry to aid us in offsetting some costs, our target is to reach the group stages,” he added.

Sharks are expected to rub shoulders with the likes of South African big wigs Kaizer Chiefs, Petro de Luanda (Angola), Kampala City Council Authority (Uganda), Egyptian giants Zamalek and their Tunisian counterparts Etoile du Sahel among other clubs who have already qualified for this competition.

AFC Leopards bowed out at the preliminary stage of this competition on away goal rule after settling for a 1-1 aggregate score with Madagascar’s Fosa Juniors.

KARIOBANGI SHARKS SCHEDULE

November 27: Caf Confederation Cup preliminary round fixture (first leg)

December 2: Gor Mahia v K-Sharks

December 8: AFC Leopards v K-Sharks