THIS IS NOT FAIR: FKF denounces CAF ‘A’ permits, orders fresh coaching courses

Sony coach Zedekiah Otieno reacts on the touchline during their KPL match against City Stars at Nyayo Stadium.PHOTO/DENNIS OKEYO

Football Kenya Federation (FKF) has said coaches who undertook the CAF ‘A’ coaching course in 2014 must retake the training next year.

In a move that is likely to create great debate, the federation said the course, which was held in Machakos, did not meet the required hours for a CAF ‘A’ licence.

“We do not recognise those permits because their number of hours did not meet CAF standards. We will therefore repeat the course next year,” said FKF chairman Nick Mwendwa.

Over 30 coaches, most of them from the Kenyan Premier League (KPL), undertook the one-week course.

Mwendwa was speaking yesterday at the FKF goal project where he gave an update on the club licensing requirements and said eight clubs; Nzoia Sugar, Mathare United, Posta Rangers, Muhoroni Youth, Western Stima, Sony Sugar, Sofapaka and Thika United are yet to meet the requirements.

The FKF boss added that they will carry out several CAF ‘B’ permit courses to increase the competence of local coaches.

“Because of the current situation, we are allowing coaches with a ‘C’ licence to handle KPL clubs when they come for licensing. But in future, this must change as we conduct more courses,” he said.

Former FKF Technical Director Jacob ‘Ghost’ Mulee, who oversaw the licensing exercise, however, differed with the decision. Mulee said the course was for equalisation, so the coaches did not need to have logged the required hours.

“I am surprised by the announcement. The fact is CAF issued the licences because the understanding all along was that this was an equalisation course. A lot of coaches had gathered hours while coaching elsewhere and had other qualifications. We needed to bring this together and give them a licence,” he said.

Posta Rangers Technical Director Zedekiah Otieno, who scored the second highest marks in the course said;

“My understanding is that the time spent doing this course was about the hours you log in and not about the number of days you spend in class.”

He said they should be refunded the Sh100,000 they paid for the course, if it is no longer valid, adding he does not mind repeating the test. According to information on the CAF website, an ‘A’ licence should take at least one month.