Players whose contracts were terminated and rendered jobless following the disbandment of Palos, Thika United and Sony Sugar could be headed for a bumper harvest.
This is after the Kenya Footballers Welfare Association (KEFWA) revealed plans to request for financial aid from Fifpro to compensate the players.
According to Kefwa Secretary General Jerry Santo, the Netherlands-based association established a fund meant to financially boost players whose employers went under due to unforeseen circumstances.
Palos withdrew from the National Super League in November 2017 after their financial taps dried and consequently released all their players despite having contracts.
However, their slot in the second tier was taken up by Kisumu All Stars, an outfit revived and bankrolled by the County Government of Kisumu.
All Stars made their debut in the NSL the following season and would gain promotion to the top-flight in June last year.
Thika's troubles began after they were relegated from the Kenyan Premier League in 2018 after finishing last in the 18-team league, a run which proved costly as they lost their shirt sponsor Brookside Dairy.
Luck was not on their side as they were ejected out of the NSL in the subsequent season after finishing in the red zone a performance which meant that they would have participated in the Division One last season. According to FKF, the club folded after slumping to the third tier.
Sony Sugar, famous for winning the league in 2006, were disbanded after being kicked out of the competition during the first leg of last season.
The Awendo-based millers' sin was dishing three walkovers, citing lack on finances to facilitate their travels to honour matches.
Santo said the sinking of the clubs saw players, who had running contracts lose employment unfairly. He, however, absolved them from blame saying that the circumstances which led to their disbandment were comprehensible.
"There are players who had running contracts with these clubs but were not paid after their disbandment.It is not their fault that the clubs went under neither can we put those clubs on their backs to have them pay the players who had existing contracts,"said the retired midfielder.
"Fifpro established a fund to assist players who were affected by the disbandment of their clubs while their contracts were running.We may miss the first batch which is set to be disbursed soon but i believe after presenting information and applying for funds the players will benefit."
He added: "We will go through the records and establish which player had a contract and was affected by the dissolution and present the data to Fifpro. The aid may take two to three months to reflect in our accounts once we have successfully applied," said the former Posta Rangers man.
