Mwendwa mulls Premier League October kick-off
Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Premier League will start at the end of October and it will be recognised by the world football governing body Fifa.
The announcement was made by embattled FKF president Nick Mwendwa on Saturday as he awarded the winners of the Elite Cup pre-season tournament, Kenya Police with a trophy at the Nyayo Stadium.
“Now all the players should train hard. The true premier league that is sanctioned by Fifa will start at the end of this month. I will be announcing the exact dates this week,” Mwendwa told People Sport.
Mwendwa’s announcement gives a hint that the efforts to get the Fifa suspension lifted could be at an advanced level. Kenya was suspended by the global body in February after the body claimed there was government inference in football.
Fifa declaration came after the disbandment of the federation by outgoing Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohammed.
As a condition to lift the ban, Fifa demanded a commitment from the government to allow the federation to run the sport and also hand over the management of football to the FKF secretariat that had been locked for several months.
During the final of the eight-team Elite Cup that kicked off a fortnight ago, star-studded Police crushed Nairobi City Stars 2-0 at Nyayo Stadium to clinch the inaugural pre-season competition title and also to pocket Sh1 million prize money.
Striker David Simiyu and midfielder Marvin Nabwire scored a goal apiece in the second half to power the Law Enforcers past their rivals in the action-packed thriller.
Police should have gone ahead much earlier in the encounter, but Duke Abuya squandered his effort from the spot after Francis Kahata was sent tumbling in the area by custodian Steve Njung’e.
Simiyu latched onto a low cross to break the deadlock in the 62nd minute, and 10 minutes later, Nabwire hurled a rasping shot into the bottom left corner of the net to double the advantage.
Winning goal
The Coach Sammy Omollo-tutored side made it to the final after pipping Bidco United 1-0 in the closely contested semi-finals at Kasarani Annex on Thursday.
Reagan Otieno for the Servicemen needed less than two minutes on the pitch to score the winning goal to progress to the final of the Elite Pre-Season tourney final.
Otieno had just come in alongside lethal striker Elvis Rupia, and he finished off with a neat tap-in of a goal that Rupia was also involved in, Duke Abuya with a superb assist. Abuya scored six goals in the entire preseason tourney.
On the other hand, City Stars scrapped past Kariobangi Sharks with a slim 3-2 win on post-match penalties following a two-all draw in regulation time.
City Stars took an early lead Vincent Otieno and Newton Ochieng in the 24th and 27th minutes respectively before Kennedy Onyango kick-started Kariobangi Sharks comeback from the spot on 70 minutes.
The teams used the tournament to gauge their level of preparedness ahead of the new season.
