THE SPATE OF WALKOVERS IN OUR NSL AND DIVISION ONE LEAGUE IS A TIP OF THE ICE BERG.

Save for clubs that were caught in the promotion and demotion court proceedings due for directions for hearing on the hearing on 23rd of this month;a worrying trend is emerging.

There are 5 walkovers dished out in the NSL and a record 10 in Division One Zone B only out of a possible 34 games played so far.

There is more than meets eye and our preliminary findings could not be further from the truth. Most club officials who sought anonymity feel like FKF hurriedly started the league without due regard to club's logistical and even players recruitment. That majority of teams both in the NSL and Division One have pointed out that the standards have dipped from last two seasons is a pointer to lack of adequate preparation.

Two officials of two leading NSL sides and a key Patron of a Division One Zone B club observed that the pending court case and the manner in which some decisions were made in the aftermath of the exit of the Caretaker Committee and reinstatement of the FKF secretariat left many questions than answers. Some clubs believe the court case will have serious consequences on all our leagues as a decision will only be made in favour of either the clubs or FKF.

Legal experts also agree that clubs have reasonable belief to be cautious particularly when one issue before hand emanates from the ouster of FKF's NEC by a court of equal jurisdiction.

On Division One Clubs it is no longer a secret more clubs will boycott upcoming fixtures particularly as they feel pinch of among others paying affiliation fees of Ksh.30,000,player registration Ksh.9,500 and match fees of Ksh.7,5000 per match per team.
Club officials are now up in arms with the Federation over the mandatory requirements for clubs (in an amateur league) to avail a well equipped Ambulance during matches.Hiring of such will see clubs spend a further Ksh.10,000/= on the lower side per home match.
Again the number of teams have been increased and thus upping the costs for clubs.

On top of this clubs cater for the day to day logistics of running the team and more importantly there is no league sponsor nor monetary support from the FKF.

Reports reaching us indicate clubs have vowed not to take to the pitch until FKF addresses a number of issues,logic also seems to have evaded FKF in promoting a large number of teams in the Division One and then without any Committee's resolution nor vote by clubs unilaterally decided that 7 clubs from each zone will be relegated to Division Two,a new for football.

Clearly FKF has forgotten that clubs are key stakeholders in the game and that it is not superior to them and their grievances must be hard particularly in these tough economic times as running a soccer team is no easy task especially if the club in question is funded by an individual or through goodwill.

In addition,yesterday saw Vihiga United play with less players same to Falcon Queens and surely it dents the image of a faceless FKF,which sponsor can pump his money in leagues that are this haphazard in nature?
Time to rethink.

In other news our team establishes that Soy United is embroiled in a take over tussle with the new partners seeking a change of name and possible shift of home ground,whilst the current regime is holding out for a change in management and a raft of conditions as to player contracting and long-term development of an Academy.It is reported the club has less than 9 days to reach an agreement on a compromise or otherwise.

Efforts to reach the management went futile but we are keeping a close eye on this story.