Act tough on clubs failing to honour matches

The Kenyan Premier League (KPL) has grown in leaps and bounds since the days when some matches could not be played due to, for example, lack of payment to referees among other issues.

Many had seen the birth of the KPL, the company that runs the local league, as a saviour to the local game after the many problems the league faced when it was under the management of the Football Kenya Federation (FKF).

Issues like teams failing to honour their matches had become a thing of the past, but it is disheartening the problem is creeping back.

What happened last Wednesday was, to say the least, shameful after Nzoia Sugar declined to honour a match against AFC Leopards at Bukhungu Stadium in Kakamega.

The sugar millers surprisingly defied KPL and insisted that the match should be played in Mumias while Leopards knew the tie was in Bukhungu as per fixtures released by KPL.

It is the duty of the league managers to plan for fixtures not clubs and the KPL must take strong action against clubs that are defying them and threatening to take us back to the dark ages.

Before Nzoia Sugar failed to honour their fixture, Mount Kenya United had also given Gor Mahia a walk-over. For Mount Kenya United it was a case of luck of funds. But then again one wonders how the team was allowed to take part in the country’s top league without a financial guarantee.

KPL and FKF must henceforth be serious about the club licensing and ensure that only serious teams take part in the league because we don’t want to lose what we have gained over the years.