Nick Mwendwa: Time has come for us to end ‘unhappy marriage’ with KPL
The expected divorce between Football Kenya Federation (FKF) and the Kenyan Premier League (KPL) will happen in 2020 when the latter’s contract expires, FKF president Nick Mwendwa has said.
Speaking to Capital Sport, Mwendwa said the decision is based on a breakdown in relationship and a lack of trust between the two entities.
In the meantime, the youthful Mwendwa has asked the public to expect more tussles until the divorce date with the Jack Oguda-led KPL in two years’ time.
“This contract ends in 2020. It was signed by our predecessors and there’s nothing we can do. They (KPL) don’t feel like they want to support the national team. In September 2020 it ends and maybe from there we will implement what we want to implement. But till then we will keep tussling with them,” said Mwendwa.
FROSTY RELATIONSHIP
“For sure, this means continuing to have KPL will be impossible after two years. For us, there is no way we can delegate this authority again to such a company,” he added.
KPL, with express orders from FKF, has managed the country’s top flight football competition since 2005.
The relationship between these two entities has however been, at best, frosty, in the wake of endless wrangles and squabbles fueled by a clash of egos.
The latest clash between the two bodies has been on availability of players for national team duty ahead of the international friendly matches against Swaziland and Equatorial Guinea.
KPL has since rushed to the Sports Tribunal accusing FKF of over reaching its mandate and interfering with the running of the league over its decision to ‘forcefully’ postpone the ‘Mashemeji derby’ which had initially been slated for Saturday.