FKF must shape up to avoid causing embarrassment

By SEAN CARDOVILLIS

KENYA: It was refreshing to hear President Uhuru Kenyatta assure Harambee Stars at State House this week that the government will look into the issues affecting local football and other sports.

Corruption and an out of touch administration have dogged Kenya’s most popular sport for decades, leading to under-performing clubs and the national teams at international levels.

The recent scandals during the Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup where teams and officials, including Stars the day after they won the tournament, being held in hotels for non-payment of bills, along with the Machakos pitch being ruled unplayable due to heavy rains, are unacceptable.

Football Kenya Federation Chairman Sam Nyamweya and his team must wave the white flag, admit they cannot run football in this country, and hand over the reigns honourably.

They must realise that the sport is bigger than them, and let younger, more energised and qualified people take over the Federation and move the sport back into the 21st century.

Myriad of symptoms

Kenyans are tired of being ripped off! The problems of Gor Mahia and the elections chaos are one of the myriad of symptoms of what’s wrong with local football today.

The sport is moving forward, as can be seen by new sponsors like Supersport stepping in, which has led to unparalleled coverage of league and cup games and money trickling down to the clubs and players.

However, all this could disappear if the current administration keeps stumbling from one embarrassment to another, and President Kenyatta’s comments this week could not have been timed better! 

Hockey stadium shambles

Last week I visited the City Park hockey stadium a couple of weeks after attending one of the matches during the African Hockey Championship at the same venue.

To say the facilities surrounding the Astroturf pitch are in a shocking state is putting it mildly. First of all the driveway and parking area are full of mud and puddles due to the area not being levelled out.

All the Kenya Hockey Union needs to do is to get a grader and level the place out. Rubbish mounds and a general lack of care and attention make the front of the stadium a veritable eyesore.

The area around the public spectators section just to the left of the main building is what shocked me.

What are temporary structures doing there with clothes hanging out to dry?

Are there squatters now living within the hockey grounds? Once again rubbish mounds and uneven muddy surfaces from the rain point to general neglect — a sad indictment of our sporting facilities!

The KHU are at pains to point out that they are financially constrained, with the maintenance of the artificial pitch taking up most of their budget, but with a little foresight they can raise more revenue.

Why are there no bar facilities? There should be a place where players and officials can buy refreshments and that would encourage more ‘social’ and corporate events at the only hockey stadium with an Astroturf pitch in the country.

Haraka mamas 2014  

The all-ladies team of Joan Nesbit and Dr Tamara Jones had their best ever season in 2013, finishing fourth overall in the two-wheel drive category of the KCB Kenya National Rally Championship.

The ladies are self-funded, with family and friends forming the crew, and over the past three years they found out that motorsports in Kenya is still mainly a man’s sport!

It is always tricky trying to secure sponsorship for anything sports related in Kenya, but why has it been so difficult for the ‘Haraka Mamas’ to get sponsorship of any kind despite them being the modern trailblazers in the national rally and autocross circuit?

This would be a dream marketing coup of any female related products and companies to associate themselves with Nesbit and Jones, who had their best ever season despite missing rallies due to financial constraints and rolling their ageing Toyota Tercel in one event.

Credit must be given to Joan’s husband Phillip, who is not only the team manager but has also been single-handedly financing the team for each rally out of his pocket.

Through sheer determination and an ability to ignore the old-fashioned male stereotypes that still dominate the local motorsports scene, the ‘Haraka Mamas’ will be on the starting ramp of the first national rally event next month — Good luck ladies!

— The writer is a sport journalist and runs a consulting firm.

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