Relief as Gor Mahia, AFC Leopards cleared by Fifa

Gor Mahia FC fans during KPL Match against AFC at Nyayo National Stadium, Oct 23, 2016. [PHOTO: JONAH ONYANGO/STANDARD]

Visiting world football governing body Fifa officials have cleared three Kenyan Premier League (KPL) clubs of any wrong doing in player transfers.

The officials led by Kimberly Morris and Prisca Mutesi from the Fifa Transfer Management System said their visit is a normal one and were not here to investigate anyone.

The two met Sofapaka, Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards officials as well as Football Kenya Federation (FKF).

“We do this every year and the reason we are focusing on the three clubs is because they have been very active in the transfer market over the last five years. Our meeting with officials from the clubs has so far been very cordial and we found them transparent and open,” said Morris who is the General Manager Head of Integrity and Compliance.

Mutesi who is an Integrity and Compliance Counsel on her part said they were in Nairobi to ensure that both the federation and clubs follow the right process when carrying out transfers.

“Our main concern is not to punish anyone when they don’t do the right thing but rather to ensure that the process is done in the right manner,” she said.

AFC Leopards Chief Executive Officer Ronald Namai said they were happy with the meeting and revealed that it had been an eye opener for them.

“We had a very good meeting and basically they wanted to know if our transfer manager understands the system and offer any support we may need in this regard,” he said.

He also revealed that the Fifa officials had asked questions about the transfer of former striker Dan Wagaluka and have offered to follow up on the same in future.

“The matter of Wagaluka came up but since we were not in office then, they promised to come back to us in future,” explained Namai.

Last week, we reported that the Fifa officials will meet the three clubs over alleged irregular transfer of players in the past.

All the three clubs were asked to provide financial statements of their accounts for the last two years.