Munro wades in on FKF-top flight clubs wrangles
Football Kenya Federation president Nick Mwendwa addresses Harambee Stars players during a dinner organised by the team's motivational partner Odibet at Safari Park hotel in Nairobi on November 12, 2020, ahead of their Africa Cup of Nations return leg qualifier against Comoros on November 15, 2020.
What you need to know:
- The government has pushed forward the start of all contact sports activities in the country bar national teams owing to the surge in Covid-19 cases and deaths.
- Mwendwa has since announced FKF-PL sponsorship deals worth Sh350 million a year and also promised to dispatch Sh2 million of the Sh8 million annual grants this week on top of the Sh500,000 the teams received in September.
- The FKF boss adds that the federation will manage the top-flight league from its Kasarani based headquarters because 'the Kenyan law doesn't allow football clubs to be owned by a company'.
Mathare United chairman Bob Munro says a 'big' misunderstanding between Football Kenya Federation (FKF) and top-flight league teams could further derail the start of the league season.
The government has pushed forward the start of all contact sports activities in the country bar national teams owing to the surge in Covid-19 cases and deaths.
But then, the bickering between the federation and club chairmen on who and how the league will be administered is now taking centre stage.
Munro argues all 18-clubs in the league had initially signed off their collective broadcast rights to the Kenya Premier League (KPL) Limited, a company that managed this competition for the past 17 years until its mandate lapsed last September.
This, Munro adds, doesn't automatically mean these rights revert to FKF upon the expiry of KPL's mandate.
FKF recently announced a seven-year broadcast rights deal with StarTimes.
"KPL is still in existence and still own the broadcast rights. (Football's world governing body) Fifa is its founder even though we may have lost the affiliation to FKF. The clubs will discuss what to do with the rights," said Munro.
Ulinzi chairman Col. Erick Oloo agrees with Munro's stance.
"I am not going to surrender my broadcast rights to the federation for 7 years," he said.
Oloo also faulted Mwendwa for going back on his word to form a new company comprising representatives of clubs to manage the league.
Kakamega Homeboyz chairman Cleophas Shimanyula has also waded in on this debate.
"I never voted (in the recent FKF elections) because I didn't trust Mwendwa's proposal on how the league will be managed. Now those who appeared in agreement are fighting and I expected that. I am not interested in politics but I understand when my colleagues say they do not trust the federation to safeguard the sponsorship monies," he said.
Mwendwa has since announced FKF-PL sponsorship deals worth Sh350 million a year and also promised to dispatch Sh2 million of the Sh8 million annual grants this week on top of the Sh500,000 the teams received in September.
The FKF boss adds that the federation will manage the top-flight league from its Kasarani based headquarters because "the Kenyan law doesn't allow football clubs to be owned by a company."
