Revive Kenyan Soccer

There was a time in the 80s when Kenyan soccer was alive and well. The crowds would make their way to the Nyayo National Stadium and the Kasarani Stadium for an entertaining evening of soccer. Those who remember that idyllic period will tell you of the pride that welled inside them as the roars of the crowd at the flood lit Nyayo national stadium filled the nearby Nairobi West, South C, South B and Madaraka estates. You could tell from miles away that Kenya had scored a goal against her neighbouring nations at the CECAFA challenge cup. That is if you were not near a radio set listening to Leonard Mambo Mbotela telling you just what was going on. Kids talked of home grown soccer stars... Mulamba, Ayoyi, Dawo, Abbas etc

Kasarani was a magnificent ground, safe from looters and other busybodies who have now skinned it, stripped it of essential facilities and left it for dead. Those were the days when the rivalry between soccer giants AFC Leopards and Gor Mahia spurred the growth of local soccer.

The competition in the local league was both tough and hot and sometimes the emotions would spill into the street, usually resulting in unwanted violence as the 'Gor Biro' chanting fans (of Gor Mahia) met their Isukuti drumming opponents (fans of AFC Leopards). But that was about the only ugly thing about the local soccer scene. Everything else worked like clockwork. And Kenyans admired their soccer stars unlike today where they fawn and idolise stars from European soccer and mainly the UK Premiership. In the good old days Kenyans would go all the way to the training grounds of the top clubs to watch them go through their movements. Gor Mahia used to train at the MoW Sports Club in South C and there was always a crowd watching them.

Those were the days Peter Dawo and his colleagues at Gor Mahia helped catapult Kenya onto the continental soccer honours list as the club beat Esperance ('87) to become African champions. During that period Kenya was a regional powerhouse and managed to maintain a stranglehold on regional soccer. AFC Leopards and Gor Mahia exchanged top honours for years and the fans kept flocking the matches. Soccer was big business and the sponsors came in and money was there for all. The Kenyan premier league table was always there at the back pages (sports) of the newspapers and it always had a sponsor. Before long the game was awash with millions of shillings from corporate sponsors. The vultures, hawks and eagles smelt blood and were soon circling over the KFF. Elections were meant to usher in good, partriotic Kenyans into office but every time a new team walked in the Nyayo Stadium secretariat of the KFF the result was the same: looting.

Somehow corruption crept into and stuck within the KFF and now local soccer is a pale shadow of its former self. The country's game is in dire straits. Players and coaches go unpaid for long periods in the run up to major games. There seems to be no determination to actually take the Kenyan game a level higher. The lack of enthusiasm trickles down to the lower echelons of society where the children no longer have the facilities and support to help nurture the game. Football pitches and playgrounds have been grabbed since the late 80s (turned into concrete jungle, usually highrise flats). Some schools have no facilities and kits for footballers. There is little or no desire that has been displayed to ensure that the Kenyan national team makes it for the next world cup or even the African Cup of Nations. The time to start the preparations is now.

Kenyan football needs urgent intervention but sadly the games world governing body FIFA seems to be part of the problem. They will always side with the person they believe will play the administration game in accordance with the master plan from Geneva. Even if that person does little for the Kenyan game, loots coffers dry etc FIFA will turn a blind eye to their ineptitude and corruption so long as they sing Geneva's tune at the opportune time (like FIFA elections etc)

That leaves ordinary Kenyans with the task of rebuilding Kenyan soccer from scratch. They will have to encourage their children to take up the game from early childhood and support them in whatever way they can. Kenyans must also demand government support for the game at grassroot level. They must also call for transparency within the KFF. Kenya needs to have more soccer academies. That way we will be able to get more players of the calibre of Dennis Oliech (who is apparently doing very well; read here)

There is a long way to go but Kenyans can make it with the right dose of determination and resilience. It is about time we started walking back to soccer matches (trooping towards Nyato, Kasarani and City Stadium) and shouting ourselves hoarse as out footballers juggle their skills. That also means we stop the apathy and indifference towards the state of soccer administration in the country. It means forcing the team at KFF Headquarters to explain just exactly they are doing to remedy the already worsening situation.