Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Premier League side, Murang’a SEAL vice-chairman, Hussein Mohammed, has officially entered the race to succeed Football Kenya Federation (FKF) President, Nick Mwendwa, who is expected to leave office by December 31, 2024.

Mohammed launched his bid in Nairobi barely a week after FKF allowed him to attend the Special General Meeting (SGM) held on Saturday as Murang’a SEAL representative, following a u-turn by the federation who questioned his eligibility to represent the Murang’a-based club at the SGM.

During the event that was held at the Kenya National Theatre, Nairobi, the Extreme Sports Chief Executive (CEO) pledged to develop infrastructure, commercialize Kenyan football leagues and lead an all-inclusive administration. He blamed the outgoing federation for lack of vision, plan and poor marketing strategy leading to the country’s perennial under-performance.

Infrastructure

According to Hussein, excellence and success in the local football arena will depend heavily on good sports infrastructure, in order to realize the full potential of the football business. He further said that there must be a deliberate plan to build sustainable infrastructure that can enable the commercialization of the sport and performance on the international stage.

He said for Kenya to have adequate stadiums for the Premier League, National Super League, Division One and Two, there is need to embark on an ambitious infrastructural development strategy from the grassroots, where each County will have at least two to three eco-friendly 5,000 - 10,000-seater stadiums.

“The quality of local football facilities is terribly saddening. Despite having been touted as the most popular game in Kenya, our infrastructure is lagging behind those of our neighbours – Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia and Rwanda. This explains why countries with lesser economic prowess than Kenya compete and prosper in international competitions such as CHAN, AFCON and FIFA World Cup,” he noted.

He added that, “We will engage the county governments on a private public partnership to upgrade at least 10 pitches across the country in the eight regions. We will upgrade two standard pitches in the coastal region, one in Nyanza, one in Western, one in Upper Rift, one in Lower Rift, two in Eastern, & two in North Eastern.”

Commercializing football

While declaring his candidature, Mohammed said that lack of talent development programs, business-oriented strategies, managerial ineptitude, non-compliance with the law, and lack of transparency and accountability in the management of football, have taken the sport to the doldrums, this being the main reason behind him vying for the top seat in Kenyan football to rescue it.

“It's eight years since Nick Mwendwa took office and teams are struggling starting from the top tier league down to NSL, Division One and Division Two. Globally football is a commercial entity. Our neighbours Tanzania with a GDP of Ksh.10 trillion have two of their biggest clubs – Simba & Yanga, raking annual revenues of not less than Ksh.1 billion each. Yet FKF, in a better economy of Ksh.15 trillion, boasts giving Premier league clubs Ksh.10 million per season. The difference is mind boggling,” he underscored.

“It is in this regard that I am announcing today my candidature for the President of Football Kenya Federation. I am asking all Kenyans who share my belief to journey together with me onto the futuristic discourse of commercialization of Kenyan football,” declared Mohammed.

“In the coming weeks, I will take my message to the delegates of Kenyan football. I will talk about the importance of having quality leadership, integrity, transparency and accountability in the administration of the sport,” he added.

All-inclusive administration

Having run the Super 8 League in Nairobi before it was banned by Mwendwa’s administration on affiliation issues, Mohammed said the event included all the stakeholders in Nairobi and it provided a platform for thousands of footballers to showcase their talent, earn a living and pursue their passion in an environment cultured in integrity, transparency and accountability. He cited ex-internationals such as Victor Wanyama, McDonald Mariga, Innocent Mutiso, Dennis Oliech, Jerry Santos, amongst others, as players who excelled through this tournament.

He promised to run an all-inclusive administration which will bring on board all the stakeholders, blaming subsequent administrations for locking out ex-internationals from the management of football.

“The only time they (ex-footballers) are inculcated into the agenda of Kenyan football is during the time of elections and provision of coaching courses, albeit selectively. This include but not limited to sports marketing, graphic design, video editing, content creation, copy writing, artificial intelligence, data analytics and sports journalism,” he stated.

And to honour the ex-internationals, he has pledged to induct them into the Hall of Fame, as a way of appreciating them for bringing pride and recognition to the country in their heydays.

“We must ensure that footballers and former footballers are inducted into Kenya’s football Hall of Fame. We will also set up a national football museum to display Kenya’s football memorabilia, rich history and culture.”

The statement was echoed by ex-international, Boniface Ambani, Technical Director at Mara Sugar FC, who blamed current and past administrations of not giving them room to share new and broad-based ideas.

“Subsequent administrations have locked out ex-internationals and footballers from the management of football. Those in office have always brooded on their knowledge which at times may need to be complemented to make the sport even better for the best interest of Kenyan talented youths.”

While calling on sponsors to work with Mohammed, former Mombasa Senator, Hassan Omar, urged Sports CS Kipchumba Murkomen to clean the mess in the sports sector and use it to create millions of jobs for talented Kenyan youth.

Others who spoke during the event include, Mureithi Mabea, Eastern Region NEC Member, and Robert Macharia, who is the Murang’a County NEC Member and Murang’a SEAL Chairman.

Notable ex-internationals and footballers present were Dennis Oliech, George Sunguti, Jeffery Oyando, Simeone Mulama, Boniface Ambani, Innocent Mutiso and Harold Ndege.