The federation boss reveals to Goal why they are rushing against time to conclude the 2020-21 top-flight season
Football Kenya Federation has called on clubs in the FKF Premier League “to just persevere for the time being” as they strive to finish the 2020-21 season as per the calendar.
The Kenyan top-flight is currently rocked with a congested list of fixtures after the flow of the league was halted in March following the government’s decision to suspend all sporting activities as a way to help curb the spread of the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic.
The move forced the federation to start planning from square one when the league resumed after 56 days in the cold, and teams are now forced to play two to three matches in a week to make sure the league is concluded as per the Caf calendar.
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With fatigue starting to take a toll on players and the conditions of the available matches venues especially for Nairobi-based teams also deteriorating, FKF President Nick Mwendwa has told Goal they don’t have any other route to take apart from running the league as a marathon to the end.
What did Mwendwa say?
“It is a marathon now, that is how it is, the league must end,” Mwendwa told Goal on Saturday. “We don’t have options, we have a deadline on when to conclude the league and we have to strive to meet it.
“It is not our [FKF] fault but because of nature, Covid-19 came and disrupted the beautiful game, so we don’t have many options, I just want to appeal to the teams to stay calm, persevere, and understand the situation, they need to know the season must be played to the end and for us to beat the deadline, then a congested list of fixtures is a must.
“We know how tough it is for the players, but that is how it is.”
What did Shimanyula say?
Kakamega Homeboyz chairman Cleophas Shimanyula has supported the decision by the federation to rush the league to a conclusion insisting anything can happen between now and when the league is supposed to end.
“We don’t know what will happen next, Covid-19 is still with us and they [government] might be forced to put another lockdown if the numbers go up soon, even if we play four to five matches a week I don’t see any problem,” Shimanyula told Goal on Saturday.
Caf ticket for June 30?
The delayed end to the Kenyan league has already forced the federation to declare the team that will be on top of the 18-team table by June 30, will be handed the ticket to represent the country in the Caf Champions League.
This is after Caf set June 30 as the date to submit the names of all inter-club representatives from all the affiliated countries and by the then date, the Kenyan league will still be in recess and without a winner.