Local football fans are in for a sumptuous treat this weekend as the Kenyan Premier League roars back to life after a two-week lull.
The script and the stage are all the same save for the cast that has drastically changed.
This follows the formation of a 15-member caretaker committee that took over the responsibility of running the country's football from the beleaguered Nick Mwendwa-led Football Kenya Federation.
Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed said she disbanded FKF after its officials failed to account for funds previously disbursed by the government.
The development came as the State Department for Sports opened an inquiry into how the local football governing body spent Sh244.6 million allocated to the national team for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.
The dust seems to have finally settled. After a lot of uncertainty surrounding the heated tussle pitting FKF against the government, the newly appointed Justice Aaron Ringera (Rtd)-led caretaker committee announced Thursday it will extend partial logistical support to keep the top-flight and second-tier sides afloat.
The decision came hot on the heels of a meeting at Nyayo Stadium on November 12, that brought together club representatives and members of the caretaker committee where a wide array of issues came to the fore, including the resumption of league action and harmoniSation of fixtures.
In a statement signed by Ringera, the FKF caretaker committee announced it will avail Sh300,000 for each of the top-tier clubs and Sh250, 000 for each of the 20 clubs in the second-tier National Super League.
Read the statement in part: “We received your requests for funding from FKF Caretaker Committee to help with some logistics of resumption of league fixtures.
“We note, however, that because of the limited resources available at this moment in time, for a start the FKF Caretaker Committee has agreed that it will provide Sh300,000 for each of the Premier League Clubs and Sh250,000 for each of the National Super League football clubs," it continued.
During the meeting on November 24 that was skipped by Kariobangi Sharks, the clubs requested urgent financial support, saying they were overwhelmed by the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The clubs are also yet to receive the monthly stipends that were previously issued by the ousted Football Kenya Federation, given the accounts of the local football governing body were frozen in the wake of an investigation into alleged financial impropriety at Kandanda House.
Before FKF's disbandment, Premier League clubs were pocketing Sh833, 000 from BetKing and StarTimes deals which were later scaled down to Sh400,000 after the former withdrew support.
The NSL clubs were initially promised Sh750,000 from the Betika sponsorship deal but the amount was eventually reduced to Sh300,000.
Both competitions suffered huge setbacks following the withdrawal of BetKing, StarTimes and Betika from the local football arena.
The rain started beating the clubs on August 6, when the KPL was left without a sponsor after BetKing Kenya terminated their deal with the local football governing body.
In a terse letter signed jointly by FKF President Nick Mwendwa and Betking Kenya country director Ivana Ristic, the two parties said the decision to terminate the sponsorship deal was mutual.
“The Football Kenya Federation (FKF) and Betking Kenya jointly announce that we have reached a mutual agreement to terminate our existing sponsorship contracts for the BetKing Premier League (BKPL) and BetKing Division One League,” read the letter.
The amounts offered by Ringera's committee are, however, a drop in the ocean compared to the colossal sum of Sh2 million the clubs had initially requested to meet their full operational costs.
There is, however, some light at the end of the tunnel, given Ringera promised that a review of changes to the Committee's offer would be communicated in the near future when necessary.
With the finances now partially sorted, action resumes after the two-week break that began on Friday, November 12.
The Star has learnt that the caretaker committee will proceed with round 10 this weekend.
Caretaker committee member Robin Toskin said they would run the competition in line with the fixtures earlier provided by the disbanded federation.
“We shall continue the fixtures from round 10 and the matches that were skipped during the two-week break will be rescheduled to a later date," said Toskin. “Any major changes to the fixtures will be communicated officially.”
At a press conference held at the Kenya National Library Services in mid-November, FKF Caretaker Committee member Ali Amour confirmed that the clubs agreed to work closely with the committee at full length.
"We had a two-way discussion with the clubs in which we shared ideas on the best approaches to scale up Kenyan football," Amour said.
"We agreed to resume league matches on December 4 and we have also urged the clubs to comply with Sports Act (2013) so that they can be transparent in how they operate," Amour added.
Amour further explained that aligning their operations with the Sports Act (2013) will make it easy for clubs to attract sponsors.
In a previous press release, the committee had stated that its members unanimously decided to suspend the FKF Premier League, FKF National Super League, FKF Division One, FKF Women’s Premier League and FKF Women’s Division 1 League.
This, they said, would ensure regularisation of the league activities across the country.
“The committee will be engaging with clubs and other football stakeholders in due course. Leagues running under the Branches and sub-branches should continue as normal,” the statement read in part.
The announcement courted controversy after the world football governing body, Fifa, insisted the move by Sports Cabinet Secretary to dissolve FKF contravened its statutes, warning of a possible two-year ban if the government continued to dig in.
Fifa also made a clarion call for the formation of a normalisation committee which would rope in representatives of Fifa, FKF and government in an effort to resolve the impasse amicably.
Local football fans are following the proceedings with bated breath, with opinion still sharply divided on whether or not it would be wise for the government to heed Fifa's call.
If Fifa makes good its threat to impose the two-year sanction, then the top-flight league will lose its essence, given the winners will be denied an opportunity to fly the country's flag at the continental stage.
