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Fifa/Government officials to resolve FKF/KPL Impasse

By DAVID KWALIMWA December 17th, 2014 2 min read

Football Kenya Federation (FKF) and Kenyan Premier League (KPL) officials are reported to be finalizing their defence, ahead of a “mediation” meeting between themselves on how to structure the top flight league next season.

This meeting that is set to be chaired by officials from world football governing body Fifa and the Government, is expected to take place before the end of this week.

This comes after the two bodies failed to agree on a number of issues, including the number of teams that will participate in the competition next year.

FKF is vouching for the expansion of the league to 18 from the current 16 team, whilst KPL, who seem to have the government’s backing, are against the move.

FKF has since announced that all its branch chairmen and secretaries had in a special meeting adopted resolutions to increase the number of participating teams.

KPL’S DOCUMENTATION

The meeting also gave FKF the powers to take over the running of the competition “in the worst case scenario” that KPL doesn’t comply with these directives.

“We also urge the Government and the relevant ministry not to be one-sided on this issue as FKF is the official body mandated to run football in the country,” a statement by FKF read.

In the meantime, KPL lawyers have gathered a heap of documents the body believes will give credence to why an 18 team is not the best option at this moment.

The documentation include previous correspondence from Fifa to the previous governing bodies and Sports Ministers dating back to 2006 that supported a “leaner” 16 team league, a compilation of the number of teams in all the 48 leagues in Africa – which show only three leagues, (Egypt, Nigeria and Cape Verde) consist of more than 16 teams, plus a contractual obligation with the competition’s current sponsors SuperSport and East African Breweries Limited (EABL).