Dark Tunnel Of The Kenyan Football

Who will save us? Did you know Football Kenya Federation (FKF) General Elections Are On Schedule?

+throughMylens

In my analysis, Kenyan football has experienced all-mix performance under different regimes, scoring highly in some areas while underscoring below expected levels when it comes to leadership and sustainable youth development programs, amongst others. 

The role of former football players and how they can be the perfect group to lead us to the promised land is one group that has been brought up time and time again.

The question is, what hinders them from vying for the top seat? There is a long list of issues; poor state and tokenism are two areas that make them fall trapped into the system. It's time we stop using the word former footballers because it is broad, qualifying anyone who has played football at any level; we should narrow it down to elite ex-footballers. 

There should be more elite former football players speaking up in this space. They should be our guardians and watchdogs, but if they are also lining up to get favours, then we won't see a former elite player leading Kenyan football for very long. In the meantime, those with influence and money will always be in control of the game.

In addition...

1. Our football structure has been designed in a way that it favours people. Someone with great vision but no money stands a zero chance to run campaigns during the election period. The culture is more similar to our political scene.

2. We praise those with money, thinking that they are the real deal, our saviour, and full of wisdom, but on the contrary, we usually find ourselves in a ditch because of our lack of scrutiny and lack of differentiation of who are the dealers versus leaders in the game.

Unfortunately, the dealers are many wearing the leaders clothes, so we will follow them blindly until they reveal their true selves. We feel cheated and dumb, and all our hope crashed to a point of no rescue.

3. Corruption is a cancer, cutting a cross all the sphere of the game.

4. The silent voices of the former elite footballers are deafening, while those that come out against the system are always sidelined from all manner of opportunities and given different tags.

5. Our perspective and attitudes need to be checked. Just because you didn't achieve much in your football career, you think you can't make it to the top seat.

On the other hand, having achieved much in the game isn't an automatic qualification that you can occupy the top seat and drive the game in the right direction. Passion and experience aren't enough; we need to see more of what you can do, get educated, build a following of people with credibility and admirable values, etc. 

6. A man smartly dressed in a suit will always be seen as wise, rich, and so on, while those in sports kits will be seen as the great champions of the game. 

I urge all those who are delegates in the forthcoming football election to stay awake and interrogate more on who will save the Kenyan football come out of the hole. 

We are already in a deep hole, and we can't afford to do more digging while our neighbours are reaping hamper harvests every season from their clubs, player welfare, and national teams, just to mention but a few. 

7. The voting base, or so-called delegates, should be expanded to all players that are credited in the FKF leagues to vote. Maybe starting with Division 1 to the Kenyan Premier League, they know well where the shoes pinch the most, not forgetting the referees.

In inclusion

Kenya has many great football talents, but how we nurture them and bring them into the spotlight is still unstructured. Choosing football as a career in Kenya is a matter of hoping that things will turn out for the better.

The day we will have a well-structured football economy that is interconnected from public, private, and government partnerships is the day we will see the power of football in uplifting livelihoods, dropping rates in crime among the youth, an increase in revenue, and an increase in Kenya GDP, just to list but a few. 

Wishing all the candidates all the best in the forthcoming Federation of Kenyan Football Elections⚽

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