Football bosses seek government intervention
Football Kenya Premier League (FKFPL) clubs are prodding for the top-tier league to kick-off in the soonest time possible for Kenya to beat the Confederation of African Football’s deadline to submit the name of the country’s representatives in continental football.
Yesterday, Chief Executive Officers representing the eighteen clubs which featured in last season’s league met at a Nairobi hotel and made a raft of resolutions touching on the belated 2022/2023 season.
The meeting was a follow-up of the club’s gathering on September 21 in which the participating teams resolved to play only in a league that was recognized by world governing body Fifa.
The top flight league has not kicked off as Kenya is serving an indefinite ban from all football activities which was imposed by Fifa over government’s interference in the sport.
Speaking on behalf of clubs, Gor Mahia CEO Raymond Oruo said the gathering was necessitated by the anticipation of the resumption of football activities in the country as it is likely that the ban on Kenya shall be lifted by Fifa.
In a nutshell, Oruo said it will be in the best interests of clubs if the league starts early for the country to be able to submit names of the CAF Cup and Champions League before the deadline.
Oruo said the clubs expect the league to get underway between November 12 and 20, adding that they are ready to be involved in a crush programme that will coincide with World Cup to be held between November 20 and December 18.
“Our clubs are still training and I think by playing over the World Cup period, the country will be in a position to beat the CAF timeline. Kenya is not playing at the World Cup and if our league continues during the period, we should have a winner at least by June 2023,’’ explained Oruo.
Fifa portal
He further said that Fifa’s connect portal will be open on October 20 and shall run for 30 days
Although the issue of the composition of teams in the upcoming league was not discussed, impeccable sources intimated that clubs were still in unison that no promotion or demotion should be made from last year’s league.
Oruo stated that clubs are for a league that will be accepted by all stakeholders, match officials and players.
“We want an open league which will have no integrity issues. We want a league in which everyone will enjoy watching,” said Oruo.
Nairobi City Stars CEO Patrick Korir said all clubs had been looking forward to the resumption of football activities in the country after the end of the Transition Committee term.
Last month, all clubs unanimously agreed that they will only participate in a league that had the blessings of Fifa.
This came barely three days after the Transition Committee postponed the 2022/2023 season kick for the third time from October 1.
The league had initially been slated to start on August 27 before it was pushed back to September 10. The committee then rescheduled it to September 24 citing the ongoing Kenya Communication Sports Organization (KECOSO) games in Kericho County.
