Fix the mess in sports federations now

It is unfortunate, but we have to say this: The livelihood of millions of Kenyan youth seeing sports as a route to a better future has been auctioned to the highest bidder. Dreams of glittering careers in professional rugby, football, boxing, athletics and other sport disciplines are continually killed by an uncaring and greedy lot masquerading as sports administrators.

So much has been said and written about the rot in sports federations, whose stock-in-trade include corruption, blackmail, fist fights, intimidation and favouritism. The biggest losers are the aspiring sports men and women still wasting their talents away in obscurity. What a sad state of affairs? Do we really have to be this callous?

Now, in a span of two years, the Kenya Rugby Union (KRU) held up as a model of prudent management of sport for many years, has also slid into a managerial quagmire. Mwangi Muthee threw in the towel this week as KRU chairman, citing a sustained campaign to derail his vision, which even his detractors acknowledge, has helped Kenya consolidate her status as core member of the IRB Sevens Rugby.

Mr Muthee did the honourable thing by walking away, which his contemporaries in other disciplines should emulate. But should it always come to this? Can we not have fully dedicated sports administrators with a clear vision and actionable plans?

Kenyan athletics, so much held in awe by the rest of the world, is also reeling in doping scandals that have sucked in top marathoner Rita Jeptoo. What has Athletics Kenya done to battle these allegations or train young runners about this dangerous trend? Kenya risks pariah status due to these doping claims in the world of athletics.

Still, the beautiful game, football, is mired endless maladministration. The age-old conundrum in the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) has one common denominator: Selfish individuals who pass themselves as managers. The tragedy, however, is that the oversight authority, the Government, has taken a laid back approach to its constitutional role of policing these institutions on behalf of Kenyans.

Football, athletics and rugby are the core mass sports, forming the pulse of this nation. Yet, the apathy with which the Ministry of Culture and Sports lends to the serious problems be-devilling the respective sports federations is appalling.

When the Kenya Rugby Sevens team was hopping from one crisis to another, with coaches Mike Friday and Paul Treu replaced at the whims of a clique just to punish and get one over Muthee, the Ministry just watched.

Now, the Sevens team risks losing the IRB core status because of instability wrought by protagonists in this KRU leadership tussle.

On the athletics front, when a German TV station made doping allegations against Kenyan athletes, again, the Sports ministry kept mum until this week when it was revealed 25 Kenyans are trapped in this scandal. One athlete caught in this doping scandal is one too many. What of 25?

Kenyans hold many world athletics records and one shudders at the thought of one of the holders being embroiled in these scams. A task force set up by the Sports ministry to investigate the extent of these doping claims did mention rugby union as reluctant to conduct tests on its players.

It begs the question thus; is there a centre of authority that can help shield our youth from all these serious issues?

It sounds a vain question considering AK chairman Isaiah Kiplagat has, on two occasions, plainly rejected to appear before a Parliamentary Committee on Sports to shed light on these doping claims.

FKF is a law unto itself and there is little the Government can do. What, therefore, would it take to secure the future of the youth if all we get is deafening silence from the State? Perhaps, the Cabinet Secretary for Culture and Sports Hassan Wario, will one day wake up to the problems facing the Kenyan sportsmen and women. One day.