Ex-Star praises media for supporting football

By Oscar Pilipili in Doha, Qatar

Former Harambee Stars and AFC Leopards speedy striker William Inganga may have disappeared from Kenyan football radar but he is discreetly monitoring the progress of the sport from Doha, Qatar.

One of his findings is that media revolution in Kenyan sports has offered home players golden opportunity to directly market their talent to potential clubs abroad.

“The live coverage of Kenyan Premier League matches especially on SuperSport is a blessing to upcoming players because they can now showcase their talent to rest of the world without having to pass through middlemen,” said Inganga who is now a fitness trainer at W Hotel in Doha where he is also the security manager.

He holds a fitness training certificate from International Sports Science College of USA.

“The Media is now more developed with many television stations beaming live matches unlike our days when radio commentators and newspapers were the only ones marketing players,” he said.

Inganga believes that Kenya could be enjoying a large base of players in Europe but unscrupulous football officials tasked to scout talent wasted it through acts of selflessness.

He recalled with nostalgia when Manchester United once offered two Kenyan defenders chance for trials but officials who were asked to scout talent acted selflessly by and ended up with poor selection.

“One of the defenders was promising and the other not so good, so they all failed the trials and Manchester lost interest in Kenya,” he told FeverPitch in Doha on Sunday.

Inganga also said that Qatar academies have opted to turn elsewhere for recruiting talents after it emerged that most youngsters from Kenya do not impress in centres of excellence.

He advised young players to stop accusing Football Kenya Federation for failure to create professional path for them but instead work hard for own success.