Muhoroni enter Premier League

By Joel Odidi

Muhoroni Youth Football Club Team manager Elly Onyuka has refuted claims Kiambaa United were awarded a walkover after Kenya Football Federation (KFF) Nationwide Division One league leaders failed to honour their fixture on Monday.

Onyuka said: "Kiambaa United pulled out of the league at the beginning of the second leg and all their fixtures have been awarded to their opponents, ours was not different"

"Those claiming that Kiambaa United from Central Province were awarded points (after Muhoroni Youth failed to honour their match early this week) should get their facts right. Let those reading any mischief in Muhoroni Youth’s alleged failure to honour the said match get clarification from the league secretariat," added Onyuka.

Onyuka expressed confidence that his team would perform well in next season’s Kenyan Premier League (KPL), having floored big names in the KFF Nationwide Division One league like runners up Ligi Ndogo, Kariobangi Sharks, and Iron Strikers in their own backyards. He revealed that the league had no pending cases as earlier reported.

"The KFF League and Competition Committee sat on September 4, 2011 and Utawala FC’s petition over an alleged fielding of an ineligible player by Muhoroni Youth was resolved," said Onyuka.

"After thorough investigations by the committee under Simon Mugo and Dorice Petsa, it was discovered that the player in question was dully registered by Muhoroni Youth," added Onyuka.

Fought gallantly

"Muhoroni Youth have fought gallantly and their promotion to top-flight football is on merit," concluded Onyuka.

Meanwhile, Football Kenya Association North Western Branch chairman James Amukoya has congratulated Muhoroni Youth for working hard to top the KFF Nationwide league to get an opportunity for promotion to top-flight football next season.

"Muhoroni Youth’s promotion to top flight football is not only an achievement to Nyanza, but to the entire western Kenya region. We hope to see more community clubs getting into the KPL and I urge the youth from Western Kenya region to take football seriously and bring back the region’s lost glory in the sport," said Amukoya in Nairobi yesterday.

Amukoya commended the team’s coach Mike Odongo Wasonga and the entire team’s management for working tirelessly to steer the club into top-flight football.

"All other coaches from the grassroots have a lot to learn from Wasonga. After finishing second to Ras FC in the 2008 Nationwide league, he continued to build his squad and now he has reaped the fruits of his hard labour, we hope he will continue doing the same in the KPL next season," Amukoya concluded.

In the Football Kenya Limited Nationwide Division One League, the race for the top seat is still open with top seven teams having a chance of being promoted to the KPL next season.

Nairobi Stima top the FKL Nationwide League with 46 points from 28 matches, followed by Oserian on 45 from 28 matches. Agrochemical are third on 45 points, followed by Magongo from Mombasa (45), Nairobi Mahakama (43), Kenya Revenue Authority (43) and Admiral (43) from 28 matches played each.

With all the top teams left with two matches before the league ends, they will be fighting tooth and nail to top the league and enter the KPL.

Elsewhere, Home Boys FC from Kakamega has been promoted to Division One Nationwide league after topping the Division Two Zone ‘A’ with 107 points.