03 September 2012

A mixture of the good and the bad in Kenya's football

The 17th round of matches in the 2010 Kenya Premier League Season saw a flurry of exciting goals, with KCB's Ezekiel Odera surely the toast of the round with his fantastic hat-trick against Karuturi Sports.

Sofapaka rediscovered their groove with a four-nil bashing of Red Berets in the policemen's own backyard, and Gor Mahia continued their fascinating displays with a two-nil hiding for former champions Tusker.

Amidst these appetizing displays on the pitches, the monster of football mismanagement in the country returned with its unwanted distraction yet again. The Africa Centre for Open Governance (AfriCOG) reminded us of the extent of malignancy bedevilling local football.

In Its report titled "Foul Play: the crisis of football management in Kenya", AfriCOG concludes that poor leadership and governance structures, unaccountability by local football administrators, and FIFA's partiality have all contributed to the degeneration of the beautiful game in the country .

The belligerence being exhibited by the so called local soccer chiefs does not offer any hope of this scenario changing any time soon.

The two warring factions stubbornly continue to hold on to their regressive positions in spite of the deep desire of Kenyans to see an end to the disruptive infighting, which has recently seen Kenya's promising midfielder Macdonald Mariga failing to secure a work permit to play in the English Premier League and also turned Harambee Stars players to armchair players during the recently concluded World Cup 2010, never mind the exciting fact that it was being held in Africa for the first time.

Already other countries are mapping their strategies for the 2012 African Cup of Nations qualifiers and even the 2014 World Cup to be hosted by Brazil, but don't be surprised to see our soccer administrators suddenly springing into action a week or two to Kenya's first qualifier for the 2012 Afcon only to rue missed chances at the end of the qualifiers.

It is not all gloom though, as the Kenya Premier League's recent matches have shown. The league's professional organisation with the helping hand of Supersport is seeing a gradual return of entertaining football to our stadiums, and quality players are being lured back to play here too.

Apart from the sizeable army of foreign players who have signed for the various clubs in the country, we are seeing quality Kenyan players that had ventured abroad in search of greener pastures trooping back home, obviously courtesy of improved terms being offered by the re-energised KPL clubs. Among the latest arrivals are Osborn Monday back from Azam FC of Tanzania, defender George Owino of Tanzania's Yanga and Allan Wanga, who could not secure a work permit in time to turn out for Europa League-bound Baku FC of Azebaijan.

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AFC Leopard's Coach Chris Makokha's resignation was bound to happen sooner rather than later, owing to the pedestrian results that the once mighty club continues to register in the league and the immense pressure exerted by the club's ultra-demanding fans.

The veteran coach reminded soccer fans that his association with the club stretches back to the glory era of the nineteen seventies and eighties. Perhaps that is in itself an adequate hint that Ingwe should seriously think of how far the game has evolved when recruiting the next manager.