By Okoth Omulo
Had it not been for the concerted effort to remove Kenya Football Federation (KFF) from the scene, our beautiful game would be where it was four years ago.
That was when there were two Premier Leagues going on simultaneously with same clubs drawn in different fixtures. This is what caused the suspension of Kenya from international football from November 2006 to March 2003.
Football Kenya Limited (FKL) chaired by Titus Kasuve and Kenyan Premier League (KPL) chaired by Bob Munro are, for all intents and purposes, reading from very different scripts.
The main bone of contention is international friendlies, which are causing serious disquiet among key stakeholders.
The trip to Egypt and another one to Iran have divided the hitherto allies right down the middle.
Whether it is about appearance fees is not quite clear, but it is very obvious that the centre can no longer hold.
These differences were, however, not entirely unexpected after former national team coach Francis Kimanzi differed with FKL directors over the tour of Egypt.
Pulled out his players
Kimanzi pulled out his players from the tour, saying they were tired and needed a rest after the Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup in Uganda in January.
When Mathare United players again left the national team camp on Wednesday without the knowledge of the national coach Antoine Hey, it confirmed my fears that we are about to witness another round of chaotic scenes, reminiscent of the days of Inter-Clubs Consultative Group (ICCG), which demanded to scrutinise books of accounts and other documents of the KFF then.
Strong resistance
Amid strong resistance by KFF, the group went ahead with their audit, which revealed not too interesting tidings.
Information coming from the camp later in the week was that Tusker players were to follow suit, but for a quick intervention of Patrick Naggi, a former club CEO, who is also Harambee Stars technical manager and in charge of logistics.
All Mathare players were dropped from the team to face Tunisia next Saturday in the 2010 World Cup/Africa Nations Cup qualifier. But FKL chairman, Mohamed Hatimy, seems to soften his ground on the matter, although he does not want to be seen to be interfering with the technical bench.
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But the radical wing, led by Erastus Okul, insists that the players be kept out of the team. This is not a simple matter of truant players, or simple miscommunication as portrayed by Mathare United in its explanation. The wars seem to run much deeper.
The cat was let out of the bag at the recent KPL senior management committee meeting at which officials demanded to scrutinise contracts for the international friendlies and the national team kitting television deals.
A demand that FKL is not ready to accede to, arguing that KPL does not have a right to its documents, but member clubs can do so. The ICCG started like that and eventually succeeded. I would be least surprised if these fresh demands for documents are accomplished.
The absence of top FKL directors from the KPL Footballer of the Year Award gala on Friday night sent another pointer to the simmering wars.
But because FKL and KPL loathe KFF whose annihilation they are plotting, they have not turned on each other with bare knuckles.
—The writer is The Standard’s Sports Editor
iomulo@eastandard.net