By Mark Baber
February 20 – The failure of Kenya’s Premier League (KPL) and Football Federation (FKF) to come to an agreement has left football in the country in, with rival leagues set to kick off this weekend. One league is backed by the KPL and the other by the FKF, although no one is quite sure which clubs will be in which league and whether or not the Kenyan government and/or FIFA will intervene to try and restore order – and on whose side.
The dispute between the two bodies was ostensibly over whether or not to expand Kenya’s top flight league to 18 members, an issue which commonsense suggests would have to be reached by consensus. The KPL argues that contractual obligations to the League’s main sponsors, SuperSport, mean an expansion is not possible at this time.
As head of the Kenyan Football Federation, Sam Nyamweya has been prepared to escalate the conflict, insisting on the increase in teams and threatening to cast the KPL adrift if they do not toe the line.
Failure of the KPL to agree to the expansion at a Wednesday meeting has led to FKL withdrawal of recognition of the KPL and the setting up of a league in direct competition to it is now in full swing. The new league will, of course, be run by FKF and any sponsorship money will presumably flow directly into FKF coffers.
After Wednesday’s break-down of talks, KPL chairman Ambrose Rachier said: “We failed to agree because we have never known why we are required to have 18 teams and why it must be done now and no one has given us an explanation on it. We have contractual obligations with our sponsor SuperSport that we must honour so we are going on with our league on Saturday.”
Nyamweya, clearly confident FIFA will intervene on his side, said: “We will have an FKF Premier League on course that will go on from this weekend; we will replace those clubs who will not have confirmed by Thursday. FIFA will not allow two leagues; they will only recognise a league that is sanctioned by FKF and CAF (Confederation of African Football).”
Local media have reported rumours that Nyamweya has international sports agency MP & Silva Sports Media on board as he battles to wean clubs away from the KPL.
With the rival leagues both set to kick off this weekend, the FKF is this morning claiming to have pulled two clubs away from the KPL to add to those it has “promoted” from the lower divisions, although this is not confirmed by either of the teams concerned.
Cabinet Secretary for Sport, Arts and Culture Dr Hassan Wario gave both parties a deadline of Wednesday to resolve matters internally. That deadline having passed, it remains to be seen if the government will intervene, whilst FIFA also remains on the side-lines, likely to threaten action if it sees anything smacking of government interference against the interests of the FKF leadership.
Unsurprisingly, Kenyan sports fans and footballers are aghast at the latest turn of events and have been loudly demanding the two bodies act in the interests of Kenyan football in general, with Southampton star Victor Wanyama’s (pictured) plea typical of many when he said: “For the sake of our beloved game, FKF and KPL, it is time to think about the future generation, players and their family who depend on football to earn a living. Let us unite and speak as one and raise the Kenyan flag into the next level. As a Kenyan international player, am not happy.”
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