FKF plots to take full ownership of KPL

The Football Kenya Federation is set to take over the Kenyan Premier League Limited upon the expiry of the league managers’ contract between the two parties in September 2020.

This was revealed by the president Nick Mwendwa in a one-on-one interview with Nation Sport.

Mwendwa said that among other things to be reformed was having an elected chairman at the KPL whose offices will be moved to the Goal Project at Kasarani where the federation is based.

The move is to avoid wrangles between the league and the federation that have become part of the Kenyan football scene.

Under current KPL rules the club that wins the league provides the chairman of the KPL Governing Council.

“We are likely to register a new entity and configure it properly. We will not have the company as it’s constituted today but still we will have an independent entity that runs the league from the federation secretariat because we’ve enough space,” said Mwendwa.

“We don’t want a revolving door in the leadership of the company that every year we’ve a chairman. We shall have an elected chairman who is neutral and who will sit on the executive of FKF,” he added.

Further, the federation will not interfere with the commercial activities of the league managers.

“We are getting into a phase whereby all our league matches will be produced, that’s why we bought the Outside Broadcast (OB) van. We want to own content so that when Facebook comes tomorrow, we can package and give out our content. KPL understands this is the path we are going to take once the contract ends next year,

“We will not touch their money meant to be distributed to clubs and pay the federation 15 per cent. There work will remain in commercialising the league and not be the whistle-blower in terms of football rules and officiating,” he explained.

The changes however are subject to his re-election into the second term during the February 2020 elections.

“I am happy that members have allowed us to run our affairs smoothly, since last year there has not been any furore on the game.

The spirit has started to be understood. This is what I would like to see when I get another four-year term,” said Mwendwa.

Meanwhile, the federation boss is set to travel to France this week to arrange for Harambee Stars’ three-week camp for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) that will be staged in Egypt from June 21.

Before that, Mwendwa will be in Lucerne, Switzerland next Wednesday to defend an appeals case filed by former Harambee Stars coach Adel Amrouche against FKF at the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS).

The appeal is listed on CAS website as case number 2018/A/5573 (Football Kenya Federation v Adel Amrouche) and 2018/A/5572 (Adel Amrouche v Football Kenya Federation).

“We are basically challenging to see if we can lessen that debt because at that time he had been suspended by Caf,” said Mwendwa.

Amrouche, who led Stars to the 2013 Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup, appealed against Fifa’s ruling directing FKF to pay him Sh60 million for terminating his contract in May 2014.

The Algerian-born Belgian, who was named Stars coach in February 2013, penned a new five-year deal in January 2014 which would have seen him take home Shs2.5 million per month.

Through his lawyer Vitus Derungs, the Belgian lodged a claim with Fifa’s Player Status Committee on March 4, 2016 demanding Sh132 million and an additional Sh5 million compensation for wrongful dismissal.

Judge Geoff Thompson on January 25 this year directed FKF to pay the 50-year-old, within 30 days, the Sh60 million plus five per cent per annum of the said amount from March 4, 2016 until the date of the end of his deal (January 2019).

Both FKF and the Belgian appealed the decision with Amrouche seeking more payment.