Otieno launches manifesto, plans to return football to estates, not academies
Nairobi lawyer Amos Otieno has vowed to return estates football and use the tournaments in identifying quality players in the talent rich Nairobi Eastlands area, when elected the chairman of Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Nairobi East Branch during the September 19 poles.
Otieno who unveiled his manifesto at the weekend, said the region had produced a number of national team players, but faulted the current regime for introducing academies as the only way of tapping talent from the region, yet most kids in Eastlands could not afford to pay for the academies to play football.
“I’m going to return football to the estates, with multiple tournaments, day in day out. We will even have six-a-side tournaments in estate where there is now space for a full pitch, so long as we allow the kids and youth to showcase their talents and sharpen their skills,” Otieno told People Sport.
He added: “I will look for corporates to sponsor a unified league for the entire Nairobi County and various estate tournaments as we provide qualified referees for the matches. This is the only way we can return football to the grassroots. Not every kid can afford to join an academy to be able to play football, we will be denying thousands a chance to showcase their talent if we go on like this.”
Otieno a former chairman of Kasarani Sub Branch plans to restructure the Division Two league to be played in zones so that teams reduce the transport burden on match days and seek sponsorship to cater for referees’ expenses.
He proposed the strucking off of the regional league and introducing Nairobi County Super League in collaboration with Nairobi West Branch, which shall be composed of 20 teams made of 10 teams from Nairobi East and 10 teams from Nairobi West.
He also plans to partner with Nairobi County Government and Nairobi Metropolitan Services to have devolved sports funds empower grassroots football clubs.
