Kenyan footballers may just be a bitter lot

The sight of AFC Leopards players crying wolf after being evicted by landlords for not paying rent is as disappointing as seeing Gor Mahia FC officials begging for well-wishers to buy air tickets for its players to Tanzania for the 2015 edition of the CECAFA Kagame Cup.

That Kenya National Football Team, Harambee Stars, runs short of basic football necessities like training kits and food when camping in preparation for continental championships, is a clear sign that Kenyan football is in doldrums.

It is not uncommon; neither has it been strange, for Harambee Stars footballers to report to training late due to inefficacy of the Football Kenya Federation, a trend that has had a bearing on the team’s performance.

An avid observer of the Kenya Premier League matches will concur that the country is teeming with talent, but these youngsters with enviable dribbling skills are often nipped in the bud by football managers who value self-aggrandisement more than the national good.

The exploits of Victor Wanyama in the English Premier League, Denis Oliech in the French League, Macdonald Mariga in the Italian League and Divock Origi at Liverpool should act as refreshers to football officials in the country that football is a multi-billion shilling industry whose dividends can change a generation.

It therefore goes without saying that footballers in Kenya are very angry. You cannot expect an angry man to deliver for the people who are not paying him. The recent hooliganism potrayed at the City Stadium can be viewed from different aspects but i insist, Kenyan footballers are a bomb always ready to detonate at the slightest nudge, therefore handle them with care.