The uncertainty surrounding the future of the Kenyan Premier League should be blamed squarely on the league company, KCB coach Zedekiah 'Zico' Otieno believes.
Recently, there have been calls by a section of financially struggling sides in the top flight to have the league halted to avoid the ignominy of teams not honouring their fixtures.
Zico, however, believes all this should have been avoided if the KPL management would have been astute in how they run the league.
“It's a very sad situation that the league has found itself in. But KPL must take responsibility for the uncertainty that dogs the immediate future of the league,” observed Zico.
“When SuperSport was still the broadcast sponsors of KPL, the league body had a good platform to market themselves and bring in more partners. They, however, rested on their laurels depending 100 per cent on them and did not look for more sponsorship possibilities,” charged Zico.
The Harambee Stars tactician further differed with clubs that are calling for the postponement of the league with less than a quarter of the campaign dispensed with.
“It is my belief that all the clubs in KPL passed through club licensing in which they had to demonstrate that they had the resources to meet their obligations. Now, just a few months after SportPesa left, they are claiming they have no funds. What that means is they falsified documents to get the green light to be in the league which in itself is a crime,” explained Zico.
To date, Sony Sugar are the only side that has given a walkover after failing to turn up for their home match against AFC Leopards.
The league resumes this weekend with KCB taking on Ulinzi Stars in Nakuru. The bankers warmed up for the tie with a 10-1 thrashing of schoolboys Dagoretti High with Ezekiel Odera, Stephen Waruru, Martin Nderitu, Benson Amianda and Simon Abuko among the scorers.
“This was a friendly for us to build confidence and work on our movement and I am happy we managed to come through it successfully. We hope it is a good preparation for the weekend,” finished Zico.
KCB have 10 points from their five matches ahead of their meeting with the soldiers.
