Kisumu All Stars face financial challenges

The recently revived Kisumu All Stars are grappling with financial challenges.

The lakeside team has been operating with donations from well wishers. But its troubles heightened on Tuesday when they turned up for National Super League (NSL) fixture against Nairobi City Stars with eight players.

Football Kenya Federation allowed the match as per Fifa rule number three on number of players and they lost 0-2 to City Stars.

The Fifa rule states that a match is played by two teams, each with a maximum of eleven players; one must be the goalkeeper. A match may not start or continue if either team has fewer than seven players.

If a team has fewer than seven players because one or more players has deliberately left the field of play, the referee is not obliged to stop match and the advantage may be played, but the match must not resume after the ball has gone out of play if a team does not have the minimum number of seven players.

The Kisumu County-sponsored football club is currently 13th placed on the NSL standings with 42 points and are lucky to be safe from relegation zone despite the challenges.

Team manager Benson Basolo attributed the 2-0 loss in Nairobi to poor technical delays by the County Ministry of Sports.

Reports say the team remained stranded for more than 42 hours in Kisumu and the county’s’ late solution led only eight players traveling.

“I gave the sponsors (Kisumu County Government) all the details to wire the money to players so that they travelled by Monday night but that did not happen. On Tuesday, the same thing happened as we were stranded at the bus station till 10pm when we gave on it,” Basolo said. [Washington Onyango]