RELEGATION DOGFIGHT ON:City Stars, Sofapaka and Ushuru all in race for survival

Sofapaka players against and of Muhoroni Youth during their KPL match at Ruaraka, Nairobi on Friday 21/10/16.PHOTO.BONIFACE OKENDO

With three matches to go before the season ends, the relegation battle has narrowed down to three teams. Ushuru, Sofapaka and Nairobi City Stars are all fighting for survival.

Both AFC Leopards and Thika United, who were in danger of going down, have been spared after hitting the 30-point mark.

While Ushuru can still reach the magic 30-pont mark by winning their next two matches, both Sofapaka and Nairobi City Stars have no hope of hitting that mark, but one of them will be hoping Ushuru don’t win their remaining three matches.

The taxmen have a chance of bagging 33 points at the end of the season if they win all the three matches.

If that was to happen, then it would not matter even if Sofapaka and Nairobi City Stars win all their remaining matches. The maximum number of points that Sofapaka can achieve is 28 points while City Stars can reach 27 points by winning the remaining three matches.

While City Stars have been here before, Ushuru and Sofapaka both find themselves in an unfamiliar territory.

This is the third time City Stars are battling against relegation.

However, it has not always been this way for the Kawangware-based side.

The team’s financial position has done little to encourage their performance.

They remain one of the few sides in the Kenyan Premier League (KPL) who do not have a shirt sponsor, leaving the burden of financing the team’s bills to club chairman Peter Jabuya.

Three months ago, Jabuya announced the club is looking for a partner to boost their financial base, but nothing much has come out of it since then. There are fears that the team could be disbanded should they be relegated at the end of the season.

It is perhaps more shocking that Sofapaka find themselves in this situation.

The team was promoted to the KPL in 2009 when they also won the league title.

Ever since then, Sofapaka has not missed out on winning a trophy and nearly made history in 2012 after they edged out Ismailia of Egypt from the Confederations Cup.

But the club has recently battled financial challenges that have made it impossible for them to compete with the other top sides and could be relegated for the first time since they were promoted.

It is difficult to understand Ushuru’s predicament.

The team is fully sponsored by the Kenya Revenue Authority and started the season well and looked promising to finish at least in the top eight.

But with murmurs of revolt against coach Ken Kenyatta rising by the day, the team’s performance has also dipped and are staring at a real prospect of getting relegated.

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