Aligning KPL calendar with rest of football world was long overdue
What you need to know:
- We do know that this is going to be hell for Kenyan clubs but the sacrifice will be worth it.
- We do note that teams like Gor Mahia will now have to play some three matches every week to put up with this schedule since they have many engagements.
- To make this less of a burden to them, we hope that some local tournaments shall just have to be shelved for the next season to reduce the backlog.
- This is a great idea but the only pity is that it had to be forced down our throats by Caf.
The Kenya Premier League has finally been compelled to rethink their calendar. We have inveighed in this column about the matter but all our ink and time has only gone to waste.
We have been trying to cultivate crops right in the middle of the Sahara desert!
A week ago, Jack Oguda, the KPL chief executive announced this step that should have been taken a long time ago. This time round, he was bold enough to give the timelines for the switch and we must laud him for that.
The problem why our clubs -- and many officials will agree with this -- do not perform well in the continental assignments is because of the football calendar that does not run concurrently with the rest of the world and always keeps us lagging behind.
The Kenyan football calendar somehow runs from February to November with a month-long break in June.
While Kenyan clubs begin their campaign just after pre-season, most other countries usually have their leagues going on and the players are usually fitter.
This makes it impossible for the teams to prepare early enough to compete with the others.
This disparity is also seen in the national team since we do not follow the Fifa calendar.
When there are international friendlies or qualifiers, most of our players are on their club duties and it affects them when they are called for national duty.
The only problem we faced was just how to change our dates so that we do not hurt our players and force them to make sacrifices that may be too much of a burden on their backs.
Some people were of the suggestion that we stop the league for a full season and then start the next season in tandem with other countries.
That solution is obviously unworkable and the thought of the current players living for a full year without salaries is plain scary.
This time round, the KPL came up with a solution that we are yet to try but it just feels it may work.
In his words, Oguda said: “There will be no usual June mid-season break with the final match of the league expected to be on October 6 while the 2018/2019 season will kick off in December, to run till September 2019.
“This will carry on until the cycle completes itself to have the season starting in August and ending in May.
For example, the 2019/2020 season begins in November, running until August; the following season will start in October until July and so on. This should fall in place by 2023,”
We do know that this is going to be hell for Kenyan clubs but the sacrifice will be worth it. We do note that teams like Gor Mahia will now have to play some three matches every week to put up with this schedule since they have many engagements.
To make this less of a burden to them, we hope that some local tournaments shall just have to be shelved for the next season to reduce the backlog.
This is a great idea but the only pity is that it had to be forced down our throats by Caf.
Anyhow, we can do it.
