Uncertainty has gripped the resumption of the 2021/2022 Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Premier League season after clubs asked the government for Sh2 million in grants as a condition to resume games.
The top-flight league has been on a three-week recess ever since Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed announced she’d disbanded the federation and set up a 26-man caretaker committee that includes an 11-member secretariat to run football affairs in the interim.
Fifa has termed the takeover illegal and called for talks with Amina and FKF
Nairobi News has established that premier league clubs have, in recent meetings with the Aaron Ringera-led caretaker committee, each asked for Sh2 million as a condition of resuming matches.
The clubs received Sh800,000 each month last season as grants from FKF when the league had BetKing and StarTimes as sponsors. Clubs also received Sh400,000 a month this season courtesy of StarTimes.
Second-tier National Super League (NSL) clubs have asked the caretaker committee for Sh1.5 million.
“Not playing for almost a month has affected our plans and income. We had to pay salaries and other service providers. We need money to plan, prepare and honour these matches,” a football administrator told Nairobi News off the record.
Cash aside, some clubs have expressed concern over the experience of the caretaker committee to manage these competitions.
“Under what rules will the leagues be run, will they have proper referees and who will pay them, how will they handle disputes if they arise?” posed an official of a second-tier league club.
“Has the caretaker committee been ratified by the necessary bodies (read Caf and Fifa) to provide fixtures and run the leagues? If not, what will teams be playing for?In some of the matches primed for this weekend, Nairobi City Stars will host Kariobangi Sharks in Ruaraka as Bidco United takes on AFC Leopards in Thika.
Though Gor Mahia will be busy with a continental tie against Congo’s Otoho in a reverse CAF Confederations Cup match at Nyayo on Sunday, the caretaker committee’s fixture list has paired the team against Posta Rangers at Kasarani stadium on Saturday, at 1 pm.
PHOTO COURTESY
