How competitive is the KPL?

In recent years the Kenyan Premier League has grown to become one of the most reliable and competitive leagues in Africa.

A report released by the KPL at the end of the 2010 and 2011 seasons showed that no matches were cancelled due to incompetence. The few matches that were postponed were mostly due to disorganisation on the part of the national federation; although those matches were quickly rescheduled.

The KPL made sure that matches started on time and, apart from the few incidents involving Gor Mahia or AFC Leopards matches, the security issues were largely dealt with. There was certainly a big improvement from the year before.

More matches were aired on SuperSport last year than previous years and the league was well represented to the continent. In turn, an additional number of sponsors were drawn to league clubs.

Out of the 16 clubs that participated in the league last season, just three lacked sponsors altogether – Rangers, City Stars and Congo United. In 2011 we saw Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards land sponsorship deals with Tuzo and Mumias Sugar respectively, while Blue Triangle renegotiated with Sofapaka to offer them an even more lucrative package. Traditional sponsors like Tusker also upped their ante and gave more to their club sides in cash and kind.

The attractiveness of the KPL has seen players like Jamal Mohammed, Allan Wanga and Jerry Santos return to play football in Kenya. It has also seen players who had sub-standard contracts abroad show their desire to rejoin their former teams; with James Situma and Moses Arita a case in point.

This indeed looks like the makings of a world class league. In terms of organisation it’s certainly heading that way. This season the Top 8 tournament may have a title sponsor and that would mark yet another achievement for the KPL.

What the KPL hasn’t managed to attract though but which I feel is just a matter of time, is a title sponsor. I don’t fault the league for that. I fault the national federation that has in the past given football management a bad name and I blame local Companies for not recognising the benefits of being associated with the most popular sport in the country; and in the world for that matter.

So how rosy everything looks…

One thing we cannot ignore, though, is the fact that our clubs do not perform well on the continent. So what is the reason for this?

Is it that we are so caught up in what is happening within our borders that we end up limiting our horizons? Is it that the aim of our league clubs is to beat other league clubs and go no further than that? Is the competition in our league the only competition to us?

According to the Operations Manager of the KPL, Frank Okoth, the clubs are to blame for what they are doing off-season and for their unconvincing performance over the weekend. Okoth says the KPL is competitive but most clubs refuse to take enough time off during the Christmas break to recover from the long seasons.

The 2011 season was extremely long for most clubs, with the introduction of the Top 8 tournament and considering both Gor and Tusker had some players in the national team, which also had a busy year.

When teams should have been recovering from fatigue and letting their injuries completely repair, Gor Mahia was engaging in a tour of their traditional fan base of Nyanza province where they played friendlies with non-competitive sides. I think it was important for Gor to reconnect with the fans, who don’t always get to watch them play, but I agree that more rest time could have been needed. I also fail to see the benefit to the quality of the squad to play friendlies with village teams. That was great for the fans but here was a team building up to play a Mozambican side that is regularly engaged in continental football.

I just hope that Gor can turn that score-line around here at home. At least we know the stadium will be full for that one.

KPL champions Tusker FC managed a 0 – 0 draw with APR of Rwanda in Nairobi in their CAF tie but I’m afraid things can only get tougher for them in Kigali during the return leg. Kenyan fans failed to turn out to support Tusker; probably because ticket prices were also high for a team you wouldn’t naturally support; while on the pitch Tusker was completely outplayed.

Sadly Coach Sammy Omollo had to contend with many injuries, not to mention substitutions based on injuries and not tactics. So we didn’t get to see the full force of Tusker but I worry about the return leg and whether this is the end of the road in the Champions League for them.

One again Kenyan teams failed to shine beyond our borders. While Okoth has a point that players should recuperate, I also feel that we need, as a country and not just as a league, to expose our players to more.

I know the KPL has an agreement with the Bundesliga through SuperSport to exchange ideas and experiences. I think we should take more advantage of this. I think we should exchange teams and players where possible so that our local boys can be exposed to top quality German football.

I don’t have all the answers and I would welcome suggestions from you that I can forward to clubs and football management but we can’t ignore the fact that there is a problem.

Our football is great at home but I want us to be great beyond our borders too.