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Mixed reactions in second tier league

Tuesday, November 16th, 2021 01:50 | By
Migori Youth vs Coast Stima during a previous Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Betika National Super League (BSNL) match. PHOTO/Facebook
Migori Youth vs Coast Stima during a previous Football Kenya Federation National Super League (BSNL) match. PHOTO/COURTESY

Seven matches out of 10, scheduled to kick-start the second week of the 2021/2022 Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Betika National Super League (BNSL) season, were played at the weekend, despite the ongoing tussle between the Ministry of Sports and the federation.

The two adversaries had, before the match kick offs, issued contradicting communications, one by the federation sent to clubs giving them a nod to go ahead with their preparations for the weekend matches. 

The second came from the caretaker committee appointed by the Ministry of Sports, which issued a contrary communication on Friday, suspending football activities in the five top-tier leagues (FKF Premier League, FKF Betika National Super League, FKF Men’s National Division I, FKF Women’s Premier League, and FKF Women’s National Division I League) for two weeks.

However, it is claimed, the matches became inevitable, since by the time of the communication visiting teams had already arrived at the designated match venues, thus occasioning the playing of the matches.

Amicable solutions

“As clubs, we feel these wrangles are not healthy. It’s football that’s losing and not the individuals involved in this saga. We could be playing, or not playing, but the psyche is not there because of the prevailing situation. Let’s find amicable solutions as Fifa has advised, and have a good environment to run the football and help our players grow,” Migori Youth FC chairman Abdi Aziz said in an interview with People Sports.

Mombasa Elite, who had travelled to Kisumu, were awarded a walkover for their effort to travel all the way, as the match could not be played after gates to access Kisumu Moi Stadium, were closed with stadium management under instruction that no game should take place at the venue.

The results leave Elite perched at the top of the 20-teams BNSL table standings with six maximum points from two matches. APS Bomet are second on the log after traveling to Taita-Taveta County, and collecting all three points of 2-0 win over hosts Mwatate United.

Coastal Heroes also notched maximum points in week two, after defeating visiting Vihiga United 1-0 to also conjure six points and take third place in the league.

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