Which way forward now that Kenya has been banned by Fifa?

Fifa, the world football governing body, which on Thursday evening indefinitely suspended Kenya from all football activities over what it termed as “undue interference by a third party”, is a monolithic institution that has built a reputation of almost always getting its way on all matters football.

To have national authorities and other judicial bodies do its bidding, successive Fifa regimes have perfected the art of coercion and outright blackmail. Bans and suspensions, such as the one that has now been imposed on Kenya, is the big stick that Fifa persistently wields to shield corrupt officials of its affiliates across the world from being hounded out of office.

And it works like magic. Why? Because a Fifa ban often comes with far-reaching implications such as complete exclusion of teams from the ‘offending’ nation from all international competitions, exclusion of players from the banned federation from the international transfer market and a freeze of funding and development programmes, course and training from the global body, among a litany of penalties.

Indeed, in its detailed letter that was issued on Thursday announcing Kenya’s suspension, Fifa cited some of these penalties which Kenya is likely to pay in the event the government fails to comply with Fifa’s demands.

And Fifa’s demands are quite straightforward. One, for Fifa to lift the suspension, Kenyan authorities must repeal the decision by Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed to disband the disgraced Football Kenya Federation (FKF). And, two, Fifa thereafter wants to have a receipt of confirmation from FKF and its management of full and unconditional control of its premises.

These are very tough demands, to say the very least. Which begs the question, will Amina cede ground now that Fifa has formally stated its position or will she stay put? Is the government ready to bite the bullet at the expense of a prolonged ban? And which way forward now for Justice Aaron Ringera’s Caretaker Committee, which for the longest time has largely been groping in the dark?

These are some of the questions that the Kenyan public will need answers to in the short term.

On the flip side, Fifa too owes the Kenyan public a fair measure of honesty in its efforts to resolve the impasse and restore normalcy in Kenyan football management. Granted, Fifa Statues, as cited in Kenya’s suspension letter, are clear on the obligations and independence of member associations.

But shouldn’t it worry Fifa that their way of clamping down on the so-called “undue interference by a third party” is often itself interference in good governance? Shouldn’t it also worry Fifa that the reported misappropriation of funds by the disbanded FKF office also involved Fifa funds? And why have these cases of misuse of funds gone undetected by Fifa?

Only Fifa can answer these questions.

That aside, there was actually a whiff of contradiction in Fifa’s letter regarding Kenya’s suspension. Just listen to what Fifa’s Secretary General Fatma Samoura wrote: “Finally, notwithstanding this suspension imposed on the FKF and in line with Fifa zero-tolerance policy towards corruption and any other unethical conduct, Fifa reiterates its commitment to cooperating with any ongoing investigations regarding FKF officials. Fifa will therefore remain at the disposal of the national authorities during the suspension period.”

Oh, really? How charitable!

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