The FA boss now says only the curfew is blocking them from resuming action after signing a new sponsor for the top-flight
Football Kenya Federation (FKF) president Nick Mwendwa has stated they are ready to resume football action when the government gives the green light.
The Kenyan Premier League (KPL) was halted in mid-March owing to the coronavirus pandemic, and action is yet to resume after the government moved to extend the curfew for sporting activities and social gatherings for another 31 days.
With the curfew coming to a close on August 7, FKF boss Mwendwa has now told Goal they are only waiting for the clearance from the government to set the ball rolling and kick-off the new season.
“We have already managed to secure sponsorship for the league that was a problem last season when SportPesa walked away and left teams struggling and now we only have the curfew on sporting activities standing on our way to start the season,” Mwendwa told Goal immediately after confirming they had secured Sh1.2billion sponsorship deal with BetKing.
“We are ready to help the clubs to start pre-season training and what we are now waiting for is for the government to allow sporting activities and social gatherings to return, we now have enough money to help the teams which struggled last season to plan themselves accordingly.
“We will also give out 20 balls to all KPL teams when we start training for the new season, we already have the balls with us, we will give to each club and that shows you we are ready to kick the ball when we have the green light from the government.”
Mwendwa further clarified how the league will be managed under the FKF, who will come in to replace the KPL.
“FKF will officially take over the running of the league from KPL, and there is nothing to discuss there, we will make sure football is run from one place – Goal Project offices – and we don’t need to pay rent anymore,” Mwendwa continued.
“We will also ask the clubs to form their own committees which will run the league, also come up with referees and other committees, everything is being discussed and before the season starts, the new office will be in place.”
Under the new partnership, each participating club in the top-flight will be entitled to at least Sh8million annually from the Federation with the partnership starting at Sh220million in the first year, followed with increments of 5% in the second year, and 10% in the subsequent years.
The official unveiling of the partner, as well as the league logo, will be done in September.