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The Kenyan Premier League has been concluded and Gor Mahia declared champions, exactly what I was rooting for in my previous column.
To many clubs, my Bandari included, and judging by the acute financial difficulties clubs were experiencing before the coronavirus came calling leading to the suspension of sports activities worldwide, this might be a good gesture.
However, several questions arise. Who is mandated to make such a decision whether it is Football Kenya Federation (FKF) who are the league governors or the Kenya Premier League (KPL) who are the league managers? Was there enough consultation?
Besides, the deadline for submitting names to Confederation of African Football (CAF) for continental competitions is July, could this not have allowed the FKF enough time to come up with an amicable solution that would have been agreeable to all parties?
FKF president Nick Mwendwa simply has no power to declare KPL champions unless with express authority from the Kenyan Premier League Limited, at least for now.
No wonder most club chairmen cried foul after Mwendwa tweeted that he season had been cancelled.
It is imperative that we interrogate this matter with a judicious eye so that we engage from an informed point of view.
In my opinion, Mwendwa was wrong not to have consulted the KPL a body mandated to run the day to day affairs of the Kenyan Premier League.
A club like Bandari has a board of trustees who manage the day-to-day activities of the club and could have therefore come with a common decision which could have been the position of the club.
While Bandari coach Kennedy Odhiambo wished for the league to continue because this would have allowed him room to test the talent at his disposal and allow players who were coming from injuries to fit in, all this in readiness for the new season, Bandari CEO Edward Oduor thought it was wise to suspend the league because of the challenges that would have been occasioned from a congested fixture.
Public health comes first. It's not just a football problem here given what damage coronavirus is doing to the society.
I know we all need fairness and equity in the league but I still feel Mwendwa's decision to end the league, though not his mandate, was a blessing in disguise to KPL clubs.
Even before the Covid-19 outbreak, KPL clubs have been struggling in different ways and I think every club needed a reboot.
