It's harvest time for Kenyan clubs after Olunga move

Three Kenyan Premier League (KPL) clubs are among those that have reaped benefits from solidarity fee paid by Swedish side Djurgardens IF following striker Michael Olunga’s move.

Gor Mahia, Thika United and Tusker will share about Sh1 million from the approximate Sh15 million transfer fees paid by the Swedish side to Liberty Sports.

Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Chief Executive Officer Robert Muthomi confirmed Djurgardens IF have paid the solidarity fees.

“One of our priorities as an FA is to not only ensure that clubs generate income from gate collections, sponsorships and player transfers, but also from unexploited revenue streams like the Fifa solidarity contribution mechanism, which allows clubs to be compensated by getting a share of an eventual transfer fee for developing players. This can be an additional revenue stream for grass-root clubs,” he wrote in a statement.

“In this perspective, we have in the last six months or so, engaged the Swedish FA and Olunga’s (pictured) current club Djurgardens IF, in an effort to ensure that all documented local clubs that Olunga played for and who appear in his FKF player passport, benefit from the player’s transfer. We are happy the money has finally come.”

“In this regard, I want to advise grassroots clubs to not only affiliate themselves with FKF, but also register their players with us, for them to benefit from the Fifa training compensation solidarity contribution that is paid every time their players go abroad.”

Olunga joined Djurgardens IF early this year and he has scored eight league goals since his move.

This is the second solidarity payment to local clubs under the new FKF administration. Early this year, English side Southampton paid Nairobi City Stars Sh2 million as solidarity payment for Kenyan midfielder Victor Wanyama.

The solidarity payment is paid only to clubs that are affiliated to FKF, who issue an International Transfer Certificate for any player to play abroad.