How change of calendar has affected local football

Early this year, Football Kenya Federation announced plans to synchronise their calendar of events with that of Confederation of African Football (CAF) and the world governing body Fifa.

The move was greeted with applause from football stakeholders who have been of the idea that the calendar should match with the rest from around the world for smooth planning and running of activities in the country.

The move saw the Kenyan calendar shift from the usual January to December period to the May-August season practiced in Europe and a number of African countries.

The federation acted on a directive from CAF headquarters in Cairo to have all calendars running concurrently from next year and hence a notice was served to the Kenya Premier League to end the 2018 season before October 6.

The notice further directed a new league be fixed between November and next year June which will usher a fresh season in August and which will run simultaneously with other leagues globally.

The change of league dates has had a fair share of challenges in the past season as this forced KPL, the body mandated to organise and run league matches, congest fixtures to surmount the October 6 deadline.

Clubs were hence forced to play competitive matches within a space of two to three days which saw fatigue creep in to the disadvantage of those without enough depth to navigate through the season, which most coaches termed as tough.

The unavailability of quality pitches pilled more miseries to the clubs as they were forced to incur additional costs in planning for both their home and away matches.

Worse still, clubs did not have to solely plan for the local league as the SportPesa shield Cup was also on course, which saw a number of clubs defer their league matches to honour the Cup fixtures, an exercise which consequently saw a number of National Super League clubs, who were also battling fixture congestion, give the Shield Cup a wide berth.

The season had began without a title sponsor after SportPesa pulled out in January citing tax hike by the government on lotteries and betting companies a development which denied clubs grants which normally cater for planning of league matches and paying salaries and allowances to players. A number of clubs had their players down their tools in protest to playing many matches without pay and hence motivation levels dwindled to regrettable lows which clearly hampered competition levels and eventually Gor Mahia defended the league with six matches to spare.

The situation was dire such that clubs which did not have their players make it to the National team Harambee Stars had league matches lined for them during the Fifa international weeks,a break which would otherwise would give players time to rest. Champions Gor Mahia appeared the most hit as they had to balance between league matches, Shield Cup, Cecafa Kagame Cup and SportPesa Super Cup and continental engagements which did not augur well with the then head coach Dylan Kerr.

Further,the squeezing of the league dates was also blamed for a number of injuries as players struggled with muscle setbacks and playing in substandard pitches.

The new season which began early this month does not promise better tidings as KPL will once again have to meet the June deadline which means there will no league breaks and fixture congestion,fatigue, injuries, expenses in planning matches will be avoidable. While players in the National Super League will enjoy a two week break,their counterparts in the top tier will be on duty on the eve and after Christmas as part of the plan to meet the June deadline.

The decision by KPL to blacklist a number of facilities from hosting their matches will make the puzzle thicker to clubs as they will dig deep to their pockets to organise their matches and hire standard venues which have been okayed as safe to the players and fans.

The stadia closure poses a danger to Kasarani Stadium,the only fit facility to host KPL matches in Nairobi as the playing surface is likely to be overused since all the Nairobi based clubs will have to stage their home matches there.