For footballs' sake, a purge is needed at FKF

With the jetlag that came with a 15-hour flight from Nairobi to Cape Verde, it is a mark of Harambee Stars players’ steely resilience that they lost to the host country by two goals to nil in their return match of the 2018 Fifa World Cup qualifiers.

The scoreline would have been higher, but for the overly dedicated players who did duty for their country despite abject neglect from top officials of Football Kenya Federation (FKF). And it is not for the first time.

More often than not, the national team players get by with the bare minimum earning a pittance for their effort. Kenyans must be wondering whether Sam Nyamweya, the president of Football Kenya Federation, ever gets bothered by the sorry state of affairs. The drop in Kenya’s rankings in football from a regional powerhouse in the 1980’s to Africa’s minnows and a laughing stock under his watch, even as he plans to remain at the helm of a popular sport on its death bed, is worrisome.

Fixtures for international football matches are given months in advance to allow for preparations and budgeting. On average, FKF handles at least Sh1 billion cumulatively from club sponsorships, gate collections, affiliation fees paid by clubs and over Sh74 million in sponsorship money from football's world governing body, Fifa. FKF has acknowledged it received Sh17 million from the Ministry of Sports last week to facilitate Harambee Stars' travel to Cape Verde. What happened to that money?

What excuse does Mr Nyamweya and FKF have for not paying players their allowances on time and taking care of logistics to avoid such incidents? How can our national team be stranded at the airport for over eight hours? Clearly, the game between Kenya and Cape Verde was lost even before the team stepped onto the pitch in Praia. Last minute interventions from the Sports Cabinet Secretary Hassan Wario saved the country from a Fifa ban and a hefty fine. That, and the embarrassment of being the only country to not play in a qualifier round because of the ineptitude of its football managers.

Kenya’s potential in soccer, just like in athletics, cannot be gainsaid. Our team boasts of immensely talented players who have proved their mettle locally and in the big leagues of Europe: McDonald Mariga was in the Inter Milan team that won the 2010 Uefa Champions' League. Victor Wanyama, the incumbent Harambee Stars captain, plays for top flight English Premier League team Southampton. Denis Oliech flourished in the French Serie A. There are many others who ply their trade in lucrative Arab leagues.

With elections due shortly, it is time for a major shake-up to give the soccer body direction and a sense of purpose and salvage what little national pride is left.Those managing the beautiful game locally are seemingly consumed by incompetence and corruption, feathering their own nests at the expense of the sport.

Yet it is foolhardy to expect that FKF was immune from the corruption scandal and incompetence that has engulfed Fifa headquarters leading to arrests in May of top officials or the suspension by Fifa's ethics committee of Sepp Blatter, Fifa's president and his deputy Michel Platini.

Fifa rules demand non-interference in the running of football. If the elections does not lead to a root and branch transformation at FKF, at times a crisis is triggered to solve another crisis. A viable alternative to our perpetual dismal performance in the game would be to risk a Fifa ban, which would in any case give us time to put our house in order. There are times a country must take risks and make sacrifices to correct a wrong. But that is a measure of last resort.

FKF, as presently constituted, should not be allowed to kill the game of football in the country and cause distress to millions of fans. It is time to dump the bad apples.