FKF Caretaker Committee mandate expires, hands over report with deep recommendations

FKF caretaker committee handed its report today to Sports CS Amina Mohamed bullish that it has delivered on its six-month mandate.

Formed six months ago to manage football in the country following the disbandment of the federation, the committee chaired by retired judge Aaron Ringera handed over its report to Ambassador Amina this morning at the Kasarani stadium.

Addressing the press during the handover ceremony, Retired Judge Aaron Ringera said the committee has achieved a lot in six months and expressed his satisfaction adding they have delivered on 85 percent.

"I am so grateful to my team here, we have done a lot in six months, and I can give 85 percent to this team, the draft constitution we are handing over today is a game changer if properly implemented," Ringera told the press Tuesday in Nairobi.

The committee presented a raft of measures to Sports CS Amina Mohamed and hoped the status of the country's football will improve if properly implemented.

The CS for Sports Amina Mohamed thanked the committee for work well done in six months.

"We have spent about Sh200 million so far in six months and it's the money that was amazingly spent so I would like to congratulate the caretaker committee because we have seen that all matches have been played, referees have been paid, players paid and nobody has complained," Amina claimed.

On the contrary hue and cry has been the norm, with clubs struggling to stay afloat, referees lamenting over delayed disbursement of their dues, poor officiating and incessant complaints from coaches being the order of the day.

To cap it up all, the financial crunch is seemingly threatening to have its first casualty in Mathare United, a giant by all standards, a team which won the league title in 1998 but now on the brink of total collapse after giving away three matches in the FKF- PL.

Among the measures, the committee recommended that the FKF Constitution be amended to comply with the Constitution of Kenya and the Sports Act. The Committee has also developed a Draft Constitution annexed and recommends it be shared with FIFA and subject to its concurrence, be subjected to a validation process by members of FKF and adopted by the General Assembly as the amended Constitution of FKF.

The committee recommended that following the adoption and enactment of the FKF Constitution, Elections of the FKF officials be conducted in compliance with the Constitution of Kenya, the Sports Act and the new FKF Constitution and that the FKF hands over the running of the leagues to a Limited Company for efficient and effective running of the leagues.

The Ringera led committee has also recommended that the Ministry of Sports, Heritage and Culture adopts the report on the commercialization of football as a sport including the appointment of a Director of Football who is to be a government employee.

Other recommendations included:

a) That the Sports Registrar and FKF work in harmony to ensure that clubs and branches comply with the provisions of Section 46 of the Sports Act and the FIFA club licensing rules on registration. The committee noted that the current branches of the federation are not compliant with the Sports Act whereas the County Football Associations are compliant with the Sports Act but are not members of the Federation. There is need to harmonise this by the Sports Registrar working with the Federation to ensure that only one body per county is running football and that the said body is recognized by the federation and is compliant with the Sports Act.

b) That the FKF adopts a more transparent and accountable governance system that  involves disclosure of information including its sources of funding(FIFA, donors, Government etc) to its members and that these funds be utilized for nurturing/development of sports and towards infrastructure development.

c) That the FKF digitalizes its processes by adopting an Enterprise Resource Planning(ERP) system including the appointment of referees, fixtures, training calendars, online ticketing, introduction of artificial intelligence cameras in the football grounds and introduction of analytic experts.

d) That the FKF conducts regular workshops for players, club medics and referees to promote awareness on sports science including nutrition, anti-doping, injuries and treatment as well as endorse the importance of medical insurance for all players.

e) That FKF ensures that all leagues currently being played by men are also be introduced for women players. These leagues include NSL and DIV 2. Further, the FKF introduces leagues for under 13, 15 and 17 for both boys and girls in liaison with the Primary and Secondary Schools Sports Association.

f) That the government ensures that all sports facilities that are used for football meet international standards as stipulated by CAF and FIFA.

g) That the appointments of Coaches, technical persons and match officials be on clear contract terms.

f) That FKF introduces beach and futsal league.