Are former champs Mathare Utd on brink of collapse?
Are 2008 Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Premier League champions Mathare Utd on their deathbed?
Is the team heading in the direction of the defunct FKF Premier League sides like Kenya Taitex Mills (KTM), Rivatex, Raymonds and Utalii FC which were disbanded due to an acute lack of finances?
Literally, it is a situation of See No-Evil-Hear-No Evil by prospective sponsors who have abandoned the team despite being approached with begging bowls by the 2008 Kenyan Premier League (KPL) champions.
Mathare’s financial inability was laid bare for all to see when the team forfeited a league match against Bandari that was pencilled for Kasarani at the weekend. Club chairman Bob Munro said he, alongside the Chief Executive Officer Jackton Obure, have been trying to woo sponsors to bail out the team since July 2021 in vain.
As Munro spoke, impeccable sources within the team said the situation is so dire that the side may fail to honour seven other matches before the conclusion of the season against Ulinzi Stas, Sofapaka, Kenya Police, Wazito, Tusker, KCB and Gor Mahia.
Should that happen Mathare will be expelled from the league, as per the rules governing FKF Premier League.
“Since 2018, we made serious proposals and held follow-up discussions with 48 companies in a wide range of sectors including banking, insurance companies, airlines and many friends of our team, We are completely exhausted and we are sadly unable to host the match,’’ said Munro in a statement. According to earlier reports, players and officials have been suffering in silence and have gone for several months without salaries.
As things stand, Mathare, who are at the bottom of the league, has almost zero chances of surviving in the league.
