KPL TOP 8 ADDS NO VALUE: Debate abound on success or otherwise of tournament

Ulinzi FC;s Ezekiel Otuoma, left, tussle for ball control with Paul Okore of Muhoroni Youth during KPL Top 8 semi finals at Nyayo National Stadium on sunday, June 19, 2016. [PHOTO: JONAH ONYANGO/STANDARD]

A blend of deceit and myopic euphoria often surface whenever Kenyan Premier League Top 8 tournament comes to the fore.

The deceit is laced with volumes of sweet lullaby phrases in that, now-too-familiar line of “since the inception of Top 8 tournament competition, our league has improved immensely”. I find it outright pretence to claim that the competition has brought some improvement to the league since 2011, when the numbers are out there for everyone to see.

Look, the league title has been won by only two teams and with the exception of Ulinzi’s 2010 victory; it is those two teams that have won the Top 8 since its inception. See? Competition has improved, right? And there’s no hope this trend will change any time soon.

Clubs like Western Stima, Chemelil and Sony are comfortable participating in the league; they neither get relegated nor win anything. I know it is not the mandate of KPL to flog these complacently lethargic clubs to titles. No. What I’m opposed to is utter embellishing of the Top 8 tournament as spurring competition, yet we can all see it is bordering moribund stages.

It seems the KPL bosses, buoyed by South Africa’s SuperSport sponsorship, merely did a copy-paste of the South African Super 8 Cup without considering the checks and balances of the local scenarios.

Logistically, this tournament does not make sense to clubs. It takes energy, time and finances for clubs to put together squads for these matches. Teams with podium finishes in the Top 8 tournament have to play up to four vigorous matches. The final for this year, as announced earlier, will be in Mombasa.

KPL will spend a fortune to fly players, match officials, service providers, only for the ultimate winning team to pocket Sh1 million. Yes, one million shillings and that has been the prize since 2011.

Without really explaining the need of this tournament, one is tempted to think it is a channel for milking the players dry. Instead of wasting the meager KPL resources on a tournament that lacks the oomph to be called so, wouldn’t it be more prudent to use such resources to enrich prize monies of the league?

A better prized league will increase the much-needed competitive mettle. These things do not require rocket science to think, or do they?

There’s no denying the fact that Top 8, in its structural description on paper, had the best intentions. But with five years of nothing new gone by, isn’t it time to rethink the value of Top 8 to players, clubs, fans and the general good of football in this country? I think so.

@TomBwana