By Gilbert Wandera

With 18 matches gone, the Kenyan Premier League is becoming even tougher as teams fight to either win the league or avoid relegation.

Inevitably, this scenario is beginning to put non-performing coaches under scrutiny and going by the recent results, Sofapaka coach Salim Ali may be the next casualty.

Sofapaka failed to win their third match in a row last Wednesday after going down 2-0 to Mathare United at Nyayo Stadium.

Eight points lost

It meant that Sofapaka have so far collected only one point out of a possible nine a situation that precipitated a crisis at the club.

Club chairman Elly Kalekwa on Monday put Ali and the entire technical bench on notice insisting that there must be improvement in the next match or they may face the sack.

Kalekwa spoke a day after meeting the entire playing unit to discuss the poor results at the club.

“We met with the players and they apologised for their poor performance and promised to do better. We cannot allow this situation to continue and I am insisting that there must be improvement or else heads will roll,” he said.

Kalekwa said he has invested so much in the team and cannot therefore allow the poor performance to continue.

He dismissed reports that players have not been paid for the last three months and this may have affected their performance.

“We owe them only one month salary arrears and that is for June and this has already been cleared and there are records to that effect. In the past I have even advised the office to pay them when they have lost matches and so the question of the club owing does not arise,”

Sofapaka down

“There are clubs in the KPL who have not paid their players for upto six months and therefore this cannot be an excuse,” he said.

Following the results, Sofapaka have moved down to fourth position in the standings after playing 18 matches.

On the pitch, refereeing standards have once again come under sharp focus in the league and KPL is under pressure to do something before it gets out of hand.

Last Friday, centre referee James Kagera awarded AFC Leopards a dubious penalty during their 1-0 win over Nairobi City Stars at Nyayo Stadium.

City Stars chairman Peter Jabuya is a furious man and claims the referees have conspired to favour established clubs in the league.  Jabuya who officially protested to the KPL over the officiating said the KPL must not appoint inexperienced referees to handle such top matches.

On a positive note, it was encouraging to hear Chemelil Sugar coach Edward Manoah take responsibility for the team’s 1-0 loss to Gor Mahia instead of  blaming the referee.

“At first we had thought the goal was scored from an offside position but after consultation, we realised it was not and the referee was spot on to allow the goal,” he said.