Federation boss must respect league schedule

The last one week we have been treated to a real circus, the chief actor being Football Kenya Federation president Nick Mwendwa.

Now, personally I have nothing against Mwendwa, but it is so unfortunate our football got such a person as its president.

Why do I say this? For starters, Mwendwa lacks any leadership skills needed to turn around our football.

Nick Mwendwa came to Kenyan football on the premise that he will bring change in how the game has been managed, unfortunately nothing seems to have changed.

Instead, we are experiencing what I can simply term as an autocratic style of leaderships where it is his way or the highway.

Last Saturday was to be the day when AFC Leopards hosts Gor Mahia for the first time at the refurbished Bukhungu Stadium.

I had an issue with the venue too just like many other football lovers because of the state of security.

However, Mwendwa went ahead and organised some friendly matches and ordered the Kenyan Premier League to call off the game to allow the national team to play.

Granted, we all support our national team, but it is wrong for the federation to interfere with the smooth running of the league by organising some makeshift friendlies for the national team claiming they are preparing for forthcoming qualifiers.

Nick Mwendwa and FKF by extension should first consider the stage the league has reached.

First, Gor Mahia has played three games less than all the other teams in the league. We are also involved in the continental competition and there is the SportPesa Cup matches to play.

If Mwendwa cared about the development of football as he professes, he would be respecting the league schedule and not rushing to organise some friendlies midway through the league.

One thing I think the federation needs to do is to help Gor Mahia in its quest to reclaim continental glory by creating the best atmosphere for the team rather than frustrating it.

As the transfer window opens, FKF needs to ease its rules especially on the number of foreign players a team should sign.

As it stands, a team can only sign five foreign players but my take is this number needs to be increased to allow clubs to sign more.

We accept the fact that the federation is protecting local talent by placing a cap on the number of foreign players a club can sign, but we must also appreciate the impact the same players have had on our league.

Our local players have become competitive because of the influx of foreign players and they are now fighting for places in their clubs.

To Gor Mahia management, as the transfer window opens, we need to go for the best talent within the country and across the borders.

We should not sign players for sentimental reasons, but players who will win titles for us.

The onus now is on our coach Dylan Kerr to ensure he scouts for good players. We want the league title, we want the SportPesa Cup, the Confederation Cup and to cap it, we want to play Everton at the Goodison Park.