Mr. Alfred Wekesa SAMBU
Chairman
Kenya Football Federation
P.O Box 40234
NAIROBI – Kenya
00 254 20 567 317
(Sent in advance by fax)
Zurich, 14 June 2005,
Dear Mr. Chairman,
Situation of the KFF
FIFA is dismayed by the events, which happened during last weekend in Nairobi,
in particular the disrespect by the members of the KFF NEC of a clear and
largely-publicized directive sent on 2 June by FIFA to organize a joint meeting
between the KFF NEC and the Kenyan Premier League clubs, and the refusal by
those members to attend such a meeting.
It is for us absolutely amazing that the leadership of a federation would refuse
to sit down with the main stakeholders of football in a country, the top clubs,
in order to iron out differences of opinions and jointly reach the decisions
requested by the development of the game in this particular country.
Secondly, FIFA has to inform the KFF, the whole Kenyan football family and its
various stakeholders that FIFA does not recognize the so-called “suspension” of
the KFF National Chairman decided in the “meeting” which took place on Saturday
11th June in the KNSC Boardroom.
Instructions were immediately given yesterday morning to all FIFA Divisions to
only accept correspondence signed and sent by the KFF National Chairman and to
disregard any other communication addressed to FIFA and signed by anyone else.
The consequences of these facts will be dealt with at a later stage.
Thirdly and beyond this saddening turn of events, it is now fundamental to
complete the League season 2004-2005 in order to prepare the next one. FIFA
supports the decisions taken by the clubs (17 out of 24 present) on pending
issues such as the Premier League play-offs dates for the semi-finals and the
final, the respect of pre-season agreement achieved among the clubs for
relegation and promotion, and the establishment of an “emergency appeal
committee” whose members would not face any suspicion of conflict of interests.
With the goal of protecting football, the players who have been stranded for
weeks because of incompetence, as well as the clubs themselves which face
financial difficulties, we call upon everyone’s wisdom and the support of the
Kenyans loving this game, to allow this season to conclude.
Unfortunately, this additional disappointing event comes at a time when the
Harambee Stars need the total support of the nation rather than a negative
ambiance surrounding the KFF.
It just adds to a long list of negative elements:
- Meetings summoned and held without the knowledge and the presence of the KFF
National Chairman,
- Chaotic organization of the top competitions (Premier League and Nationwide
League) by the KFF League Committee chaired by Mr. Okul,
- Conflict of interest between the position of the latter and his link to a
club, and absence of the second club representative in the KFF NEC because of
his absence from Kenya,
- Creation of a Kenyan Premier League Board to run the top competitions in your
country outside of the approved structure of the KFF Constitution, without the
approval of the clubs themselves, in violation of the principle agreed upon in
Zurich in July 2004 that the top clubs would be associated to the
decision-making process and in violation of the decisions taken during the 9
December 2004 meeting in The Stanley Hotel in Nairobi,
- Attempts to “save” some clubs from relegation and to include others in the
play-offs (project of a tournament in Mombasa with eight teams) for reasons
totally unrelated to sport results and to modify pre-seasons agreements, which
had been ratified by all including FIFA and the clubs, in order to “justify”
off-the-field and biased boardroom decisions,
- Impossibility for FIFA to start the construction of the Goal project
in Kenya, a national technical centre with an allocation of USD 400,000, in the
absence of the title deed for the plot of land and in spite of
regularly-reiterated promises from the Ministry in charge of sport to provide it
to the KFF,
- Procrastination by some circles within the KFF National Executive Committee,
including by some involved in the pre-2004 mismanagement of the KFF, and by the
Acting General Secretary, Mr. Titus Kasuve, exceeding his purely care-taking
authority in legal and communication terms, to accept the consequences of the
necessity for Kenyan football to modernize itself, such as the autonomy of the
league and the respect owed to the clubs, and the professionalization of the KFF
administration,
Moreover, FIFA cannot accept neither the current external influence – for
example by the KNSC - on the KFF, the NEC members, top clubs and other entities
(for ex. the Registrar’s Office, KPMG), external influence based on tribal,
political and commercial interests, which recently translated in numerous phone
calls to pressure the stakeholders to change their positions, to disregard
FIFA’s instructions and/or mollify their unity.
We have now been informed of a meeting with the clubs summoned by the Minister
in charge of sports at very short notice on a working day – tomorrow Wednesday
15th June - when most of the clubs officials being volunteers are less available
than on a weekend.
Above all, this meeting has been summoned without the knowledge, the approval
and the presence of the KFF National Chairman. This confirms the recent facts of
the past weeks and the growing governmental interference in the affairs of the
KFF.
On the club representation in the KFF NEC, FIFA took note of the decisions of
the top clubs to adjust their representation and has no objection to it. This
process, which only affects the clubs representatives and not at all the KFF,
nor the NEC as a whole, is really frequent in a lot of federations around the
world, where the clubs representatives in the organs of a federation change
during the period of four years following sport results (for ex. when the
Premier League club of a representative is relegated) or following the
reorganization of the leadership in that particular league.
FIFA has decided to send Mr. Ashford Mamelodi, FIFA Development Officer for
Southern Africa in charge of Kenya, to Nairobi on Friday 17th June, and urges to
“freeze” until his arrival in Nairobi any additional decision, which would only
make the situation even worse.
It is now time for Kenyan football to reverse the negative trend of the past
weeks and years at a time when the neighbouring federations of Uganda and
Tanzania are making progress in their process of reconstruction.
Looking forward to reading from you, I remain
Yours sincerely.
Jérôme Champagne
Deputy General Secretary
FIFA
cc.:
The Hon. Ochilo Ayacko, Minister for Gender, Sports, Culture and Social Services
Mr. Mustapha Fahmy, CAF General Secretary
Mr. Gerishon Kololi, KFF PL and Nzoia Sugar club Chairman