It's time Safari Rally makes a comeback to WRC series

This has been an interesting week for Kenya football.

SuperSport commentator Herbert Mwachiro the latest: Gor Mahia quietly returned to the country after a disastrous Cecafa Club Championship campaign. This was a learning curve for K’Ogalo, who are not the same team that won the league.

Some players have left, others have come in; this is a team in transition. This is also not the same Cecafa Club Championship that Kenya used to dominate in years gone by.

The quality of the game is higher with different teams dominating, and the teams that qualify need to prepare well and change their brand of football.

In the meantime, Gor spent this week negotiating a new contract with their coach Bobby Williamson, but this looks to be in vain as reports have it that the Scot may leave after the Sony Sugar game tomorrow at the City Stadium to become the new head coach of Harambee Stars.

Speaking of the national team, immediate former head coach Adel Amrouche was in Cairo this week where he appealed his one-year suspension at the Caf headquarters.

At the same time, the Belgian has written to FKF absolving himself from blame for Kenya’s loss in the ill-fated Lesotho match at Nyayo Stadium, and added that he brought a Burundian coach Amaya Amaros, to fulfil his duties because that’s his style.

In the Kenya Premier League (KPL), intrigues continue to surround the recent aborted Sony/AFC Leopards game.

Sony went to the Independent Disciplinary and Complaints Committee (IDCC) and won their appeal.

The match will now be replayed at the Awendo Stadium, and adds another chapter to this saga that brings to the fore management issues.

Ingwe had claimed that the Awendo Stadium was not able to handle the crowds that follow ‘big teams’ in the country, but Sony has hosted many KPL matches at the venue before.

The IDCC has further instructed the KPL to reimburse Leopards’ travelling expenses for that game.

other news, the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) held a consultative meeting on Wednesday. They have bowed to pressure and will hold a special general meeting on Friday September 26, to fill the power vacuum within the federation.

The vacant posts are vice-chairman (which currently has Robert Asembo, in an acting capacity), Coast NEC member and Nairobi chairman.

Immediate past vice-chairman Sammy Shollei, and Nairobi chairman Dan Shikanda, were both banned, for six years each, at the last Annual General Meeting, whilst Coast NEC member Hussein Terry, has been banned for life.

On the pitch, Ulinzi have started their military games defence where they beat Simba of Uganda one-nil on Thursday, thanks to a goal from upcoming star defender Brian Birgen.

Former Thika United player Francis Kahata, will not be renewing his contract with Albania side FK Tirrana and is back in the country. Kahata was on loan and unfortunately, cannot rejoin Thika because it’s outside the transfer period.

AFC Leopards and Mathare clash in the GOtv Shield today in the highlight of Kenya’s version of the English FA Cup, while in the league Gor Mahia and Sony Sugar meet tomorrow in what will be a tricky clash for the champions.

RIGHT DIRECTION

It’s great to see motor sports heading in the right direction generally.

The Kenya Motorsports Federation (KMSF) appears to have solved the problems that dogged the Kenya National Rally Championship at the beginning of the season when organisational issues plagued the first two rallies, including spectator traffic and boda bodas interfering with routes, which led to unsavoury incidents and almost led to a drivers’ boycott.

A split between the Kenya Rally Drivers Association and the KMSF nearly tore the sport apart, and it looked for a while that the main sponsor KCB, might even pull out.

However, administrative changes, along with meeting between stakeholders has solved most of the issues, and the last few events have earned praise not only for their organisation, but in the case of Frank Tundo’s Nakuru Rally, involving the boda bodas (long seen as a pest) in the marshalling of the rally.

With the KCB Safari Rally shifting base to the Laikipia area, the general consensus is that it’s a giant step in the right direction to try and get Kenya back in the World Rally Championship (WRC).

The International Automobile Federation (FIA) will have a list of requirements that must be fulfilled for the Safari to be included in the provisional list of events for the 2016 season.

Should officials from the FIA be satisfied with next month’s event, then the hard work begins for the 2015 Safari Rally as a test competition – and that will mean both the public and private sectors having to join hands to ensure the event returns to the international calendar for the first time since 2002.

The Safari’s importance to Kenya cannot be underestimated. When I was growing up, Easter used to be rally time!

The whole country used to come to a standstill for the three days of this annual motor sports fiesta, and I am genuinely upset that what should be one of the top local sporting experiences of the year has slipped down the pecking order due to various reasons.

Judging by the incredible action at the recent KCB Nanyuki Rally, expect the Safari Rally to be just as unpredictable.

Defending champion Baldev Chager, along with former winners Carl ‘Flash’ Tundo and Ian Duncan, should expect the young guns to challenge, once again, in what is proving to be one of the most open championships for many years.

Tundo returns in the Proton S2000 after damaging the car days before the Nanyuki Rally, and he’ll be hoping that the power and reliability of the S2000 will be close to the Group N vehicles at the altitude of Laikipia. This should be an intriguing rally! See you in Laikipia next month.

— The writer is a sport journalist and runs a consulting firm.

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