What's ailing Kenyan soccer

The last piece of the puzzle is certainly lost, for if it were available as expected the game would be sealed, so lets face it, this is a big oddity. The Kenyan football is a far cry from the continental standards and far worse when compared to Standards elsewhere, but why? Some tabloid stated that the problem is not with the coaches but with the entire football fraternity in the country. To begin with, football hasn't been given much attention like the other sports, like for instance athletics among others, the lack of goodwill and support has dented the image of the game. Secondly the country is teeming with vast talent which rules out the excuse of lack of players. Thirdly the country has got the facilities atleast going by the standards of a third world country and lastly the country has one of the best competitive domestic leagues on the continent the kenya premier league. So why can't the national team and top clubs deliver in their continental assignments. This is the single most sought after question after the national team failed to impress analogous to Gor mahia fc who were dismissed at the dawn of their quest for continental silverware. Having carefully monitored the situation, i realised that our biggest undoing is poor management. I always knew my misgivings were dead-on, this is because those mandated to run soccer affairs are apparently incompetent or corrupt. Just before the domestic league kicked off early this year, there was a major discord between two of the highest institutions managing soccer in the state. They were at loggerheads on the number of clubs to be participating in the league, and this subsequently led to a huge confusion and received condemnation from far and wide. Earlier there were allegations of bribery and match fixing in two key matches i.e Kenya vs Nigeria and Kenya vs Lesotho respectively. Kenyan football has hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons including poor funding of clubs, paltry remuneration for players and lacklustre preparations for continental championships. The management has let has down not once not twice but all the time, the government should do an overhaul on all the football managing bodies and start afresh or else the team will plummet more and more in the fifa rankings. Clubs such as Afc Leopards should come up with a clear a framework in managing it's affairs. Gor Mahia, Tusker, Sofapaka etc have made some effort in stabilising their management structures and the outcome has always been rather impressive though not to perfection. The management has failed to scout for players nationally and have delegated that task to the clubs, but surprisingly enough the young talented players don't get the chance to play in the national team despite exhibiting stellar performances in the league. I was dismayed to see Dennis Oliech feature in the Lesotho match despite the jetlag factor, he failed to deliver and wasted numerous chances. He had just travelled and was named in the starting lineup despite having other potential strikers, this was truly a tactical error that no manager would make. The coach should be given ample time in making necessary adjustments without any external disturbance, because coach Bob Williamson as we know has achieved alot with Ugandan soccer. He also won the domestic league with Gor Mahia which goes on to prove his mettle as one of the most seasoned managers Kenya has ever seen. It's a pity though that he hasn't been paid his full dues for a significant period of time, a situation similar to that of ex-kenya sevens coach Mike Friday. The lack of sponsorship has been a major hitch particularly to big clubs in the league. This should not be a problem to any reputable club which i would consider as a franchise. Kogallo came up with a noble idea of branding the club's logo on a bread sold by a company in Nakuru. The deal was that the club would gain a shilling from each piece of loaf sold. I did some research and found out that roughly 150,000 pieces of loaves are sold in a day which translates to about 4 million in a month, this is pure hearsay because this information hasn't been verified by the club. But how about the club investing in their own bread company and other products like outfits, beverages etc plus their gate collections which could be anything between 2 million to 4 million per match. The club should raise well over 30 million in a single month and should be able to pay all players and travel effortlessly to any destination in the continent. In essence clubs should seek prudent means of gaining revenue rather than relying on the sponsors who are rather turbulent and inconsistent. Lastly the country still lags behind in offering quality facilities. The two main stadia Nyayo and Kasarani lack the modern day sophistication. Infact Kenya's bid to host the cup of nations failed miserably because of lack of stadia. The cost of putting up, two decent stadia would be anything between 5 billion to 7 billion kenyan shillings, the jubilee government pledged on that, and it's only a matter of time before we see that unfold. It's a pity that none of the Kenyan clubs own a stadium. Kenya can be a force to reckon with if all the necessary adjustments are made in the affected areas, but as things stands the future still looks bleak. The recent upgrade of a few stadia particularly in Western kenya was a good move but again the contractors have been blamed for shoddy work. If you took a walk to moi stadium you would be surprised to see the huge mounds of trash sitting adjacent to the stadium. The perimeter wall stands firm after renovation and the artificial turf is a sight to behold but the same cannot be said for the changing rooms which have been left in desolation. Some effort has to be made, to restore the Kenyan soccer and once again prove critics wrong