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D-Day awaits Kenyan football


Football leaders will on Thursday converge in Kisii town for a gathering that is widely expected to shape the future of this sport in Kenya.

Some 78 delegates have been invited to this gathering – Football Kenya Federation’s 3rd Annual General Meeting (AGM).

The delegation will debate and consequently adopt or reject a 14-point agenda tabled by the national the body’s CEO Micheal Esakwa on May 28.

Each of the 16 Kenyan Premier League and 18 Football Kenya Federation Premier League clubs will be represented by one representative (either the chairman or secretary general) while each of the 20 FKF branches will have two representatives (chairman and secretary general), plus a representative of the football coaches, referees, players and women football.

“We are challenging the federation on the issue of fake delegates at the meeting as has always been the case. If that happens tomorrow (Thursday), we shall challenge those minutes at the Sports tribunal, or even in court,” the head of referees, GMT Ottieno told Nairobi News.

Coming from the horizon of a myriad of corruption-related arrests of the game’s top officials and consequent resignation of Fifa President Sepp Blatter, and four months to ahead of FKF elections, the meeting is expected to not only be contentious, but stormy.

Among the subjects expected to generate heated debate at this meeting is the formation of the electoral code ahead of the national elections set for November when the current administrators term expires.

The code will provide guidelines on the formation of a team to oversee the polls, the rules for this exercise and most important, qualifications for those wishing to contest.

CONTROVERSY

The readmission of the Kenyan Premier League Limited as a member of the federation is another issues expected to stir up controversy.

KPL was formally expelled from the federation at a Special General Meeting held in Kakamega last year in the backdrop of a public spat with FKF, but has since continued to operate following a temporary reprieve from Fifa.

Then there is the adoption of the annual financial statements, which is traditionally a thorny issue in any Kenyan institution, and a far more explosive one within the football ranks.

The decision on whether to lift long term suspensions of two top officials; former vice chairman Sammy Shollei and Dan Shikanda formerly Nairobi branch chairman and an expulsion slapped on Coast National Executive Member Hussein Terry has also been included on the agenda.

Terry and Shikanda however stand a better chance of earning the reprieve after “seeking forgiveness”, according to a federation official.

Shollei’s future however looks bleak considering he has opted to seek justice on the matter at the newly formed sports tribunal.

“I remain hopeful of getting pardoned, I have talked to a number of the delegates and continue to request them to offer me another chance to serve within the game I love most,” Terry, a former Harambee Stars team manager, told Nairobi News.

This meeting is the only structured way of arriving at decisions and running the game in Kenya, considering the Government’s inability or lack of interest in addressing the dwindling standards of the game.