FKF killing Kenyan football: The umpteenth time

They say that lightning doesn't strike twice but for Kenyan football, it strikes far too many times.

At the beginning of the current football season, there was a crisis and stalemate that threatened to take Kenyan football fifteen years back.

This happened after Kenya Premier League, the company comprising of premier league clubs that has run the Kenyan premier league with great professionalism and commitment, stamped its feet and resisted Footba Kenya Federation's attempts to usurp the role of managing premier league football in the country.

Predictably, FKF bigwigs stood their ground and renamed what was then the second tier football league in the country as the FKF-Premier League, and declared it as the only legally recognised football premier league in the country.

All of a sudden, we were back to the era of parallel football leagues in the country. To ensure the FKF-PL became functional, FKF threatened KPL clubs, declared their fixtures list illegal and took them to court. Non-KPL clubs, powerless against FKF's intimidation, became willing participants in the latest episode of ruining Kenyan football.

Luckily, the courts ruled against FKF's request to have the KPL banned as the organisers of Kenya's football premier league. However, the madness continued on the pitch as two parallel premier league seasons kicked into high gear in the country.

It took the intervention of FIFA to restore some sense of normality when through the global football body's mediation, FKF and KPL agreed to run the parallel leagues only for this one season, with an agreed number of clubs from the FKF-PL gaining promotion to the KPL at the end of the season, while an equal number from the KPL were to be relegated to take the places of the promoted sides.

Now, as the football season draws to a close, it is increasingly appearing unlikely that there will be a harmonised league system come next season.

First of all, FKF-PL clubs have discovered that FKF cannot be trusted with premier league management in the country. Every body else knew this already. Before KPL was formed, FKF had brought the country's football to its knees with highly suspicious boardroom decisions clearly designed to favour some teams while punishing others.

More than ten years later, FKF-PL clubs have went on strike, boycotting football matches to protest against discriminatory boardroom decisions by the FKF big wigs - a case of classic deja vu.

Another confrontational front opening up is a claim by FKF to the effect that they are the only ones mandated to decide the number of teams to be promoted or relegated. To this effect, FKF  is saying it will relegate four teams from the KPL and promote six from their own FKF-PL. Amongst the six would-be upgraded clubs are those alleged to be benefitting from unfairly awarded points.

You can already begin to see an obvious decline in football standards at the premier league, but does the FKF care? Will the eighteen-team league format be acceptable to everyone or are we facing another stalemate come next season?

A perfect solution to this endless circus would be to ensure that at the next FKF elections, the whole lot of current office holders are sent packing, paving way for a completely new set of officials, who hopefully, will have learnt a lesson not to rub Kenyan football stakeholders the wrong way.

40 call ups for Cape Verde date: Panic or strategy?

Harambee Stars coach Bobby Williamson has set the ball rolling for the forthcoming world cup qualifier tie against Cape Verde on November 13 by unveiling a provisional squad of 40-odd players.

With the huge reward for the winner of this tie being a ticket to the group stage to battle for one of Africa's five slots for Russia 2018, everything done in the way of preparing the team should be geared towards ensuring that the team becomes stronger, not weaker.

With the short time between preparation and match-day, I wonder whether inviting so many players to camp is a wise consolidation strategy to plug weaknesses identified from the Mauritius preliminary tie or a risky tinkering adventure that might backfire come match day.

The provisional squad retains regulars like Victor Wanyama, Ayub Timbe, Johanna Omollo, Allan Wanga, and Arnold Origi. However, the coach sprung a major surprise by introducing a quartet of complete unknowns to the team.

Majority of Kenyans will be hearing of Nicholas Kipkirui (Zoo Kericho), Ken Maritim (Ligi Ndogo), Mark Bikokwa Baraza (Nzoia United) and Calvince Omanga (Palos FC) for the first time. 

A Gotv Shield Cup tie between Gor Mahia and Palos FC introduced Palos' striker Omanga to Kenya's football fans after the youngster scored too classy goals against Gor, obviously impressing national selectors. The other three are yet to have their day of national limelight but I believe that they must be good enough to earn national call ups. 

While it is good to have a continuous programme of injecting new blood to the national team, I believe this should be done in such a way that it does not affect the stability of the team, especially in the run up to major national assignments like the one coming up in two weeks' time.

I believe that coach Williamson has most of his starting eleven sorted out already and all he is doing is bringing in new players for assessment for possible integration into the national team in case they prove good enough to plug the weak points in the team. 

That is obviously a good strategy that can ensure the team grows stronger, especially with the CECAFA Senior Challenge Cup, where the foreign based players will most likely not feature, just around the corner. In deed, the fact that the coach has been bold enough to name untested players from the little clubs is laudable, considering that most selections have been from the traditional big clubs.

The worry would be if the naming of the huge provisional squad, including the four fresh call ups, was a panic reaction triggered by the looming Cape Verde tie. I hope that is not the case.    

Done with Mauritius, bring on Cape Verde - We are Harambee Stars!

It has been quite a while since my last post here. While I was away, Zambia came to Nairobi and confirmed my fears by beating Kenya 2-1, making our task of qualifying for Afcon 2017 much harder.

During the same period, Gor Mahia confirmed what had for weeks become a mere formality by winning a third consecutive premier league title, the first of three titles that they can win in what has been definitely a wonderful season for the club.

Another development during the same time was the emergence of Gor Semelang'o and Nick Mwendwa as serious challengers to Sam Nyamweya's stranglehold on Kenya's football chiefdom. And only a few days ago, Kenya went to Mauritius and ran riot, thumping the Indian Ocean Islanders 5-2. 

The return leg five days later ended as an anti-climax for Kenyan fans when a resolute Mauritian defence and an inspired goalkeeper ensured there would be no more free scoring. Apart from the 0-0 scoreline, however, Kenya's performance was satisfactory, really. 

The defence worked well, skipper Victor Wanyama controlled the midfield well and several scoring chances were created, with striker Michael Olunga missing a couple good ones and hitting the goal post twice.

With qualification for the next stage of World Cup 2018 qualifiers now assured - and here a fancied Cape Verde side awaits - one would have hoped for some kind of miraculous commitment from the Football Kenya Federation to ensure we increase our chances of beating Cape Verde and entering the group stage. 

Instead, the usual mediocrity of local football management was at play immediately after the match, with players complaining about non-payment of allowances. Already, Kenya's number one goalkeeper Anorld Origi had boycotted the two legged qualifier against Mauritius, protesting against the non-refunding of money he spent travelling to Kenya for national duty. 

And as Kenya prepared to face Mauritius in Nairobi, Kenya's players were rumoured to have been planning a boycott of the tie - before they were talked out of it.

Is this the way to prepare to face a Cape Verdian side that we easily beat home and away ten years ago, but which has since improved so vastly that they have to wait for us in a later qualification round as we negotiate ourselves out of trouble against the minnows of African football that Mauritius surely are?

What the Cape Verdians have done over the ten years, and what we have not done, is the reason we are steadily going backward as the tiny Atlantic Ocean Islanders confidently climb the ladder of world football. If we are not careful, ten years from now, Mauritius will beat us home and away and we shall be left wondering how we can lose to a team that we dismissed quite easily ten years back.

These are the thoughts that should preoccupy us as we prepare to vote in new football administrators. Whoever is able to read this post and has some power to influence the election outcome should forego selfish interest and put the interest of Kenyan football first. 

We need committed and selfless leaders to get us out of the dark hole we have dug for ourselves so that in future, we do not have to tremble with fear at the thought of facing Africa's "Cape Verdes". These are the kind of opponents we should be relishing coming up against, any day, any time.

Meanwhile, I wish Harambee Stars all the best as they plot to defeat Cape Verde in November, whatever the circumstances. Go! Go! Stars! Kenya's long suffering football fans are solidly behind you!