Electioneering for the forthcoming Football Kenya Federation (FKF) elections has not affected soccer activities and sponsorship deals.
FKF president Nick Mwendwa said unlike before the country’s leagues have not been affected by campaigns as the matches are going on unabated.
At the same time, Mwendwa said the campaigns have not made sponsors to shy away from as they have received two sponsors in between the electioneering period as from November and the dates of the national polls to be held by the end of this month.
“This weekend of February 29th- March 1st, there were 600 matches on the card countrywide of the various tiers of leagues and age groups for both male and females and I can proudly say they were played as scheduled,” he said.
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Mwendwa said his office has managed to separate politics from football activities during this period of politicking and jostling for posts hence the reason leagues were functioning normally and sponsors coming on board.
“Before electioneering affected the running of the leagues as officials were busy campaigning but now my office has ensured that we have put in place measures to ensure that the campaigns don’t affect football activities,” he said.
Between November last year and January three betting firms Betika, OdiBets and Betway came on board between support football through sponsorships.
Betika undertook to sponsor the second tier (National Super League) while OdiBets went for seventh tier (County League) while Betway opted for the FKF Cup.
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Electioneering kicked off after the FKF Special General Meeting (SGM) set the stage for repeat polls after the Sports Disputes Tribunal (SDT) canceled the December 7 polls by approving the electoral code and elections board.
The electoral board was inaugurated on February 2nd, which started the process of receiving nominations from aspiring candidates and later set the dates for the polls by setting the dates of March 14th for counties/branches and March 27th for national elections.
The president urged candidates aspiring for various posts to make sure that they don’t suck the beautiful game into football electioneering politics.
He said the national women’s team Harambee Starlets is in camp preparing for an international tournament to be staged in Turkey next week, The Kenya U16 team, meanwhile, will be making a second appearance at the Mediterranean International Cup in Costa Brava, Spain, in May and The Senior National Team’ the Harambee Stars will be starting camp next week ahead of the Afcon qualifier match against Comoros.
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“Electioneering has not distracted my office in preparing our girls. We remain focused on delivering on our mandate despite the elections being around the corner many officials are seeking for posts,” he quipped.
Mwendwa said he will not allow any official to affect the running of football due to campaigns encouraging them to continue with a good job in ensuring matches are being played as usual, even as they continue campaigning for various seats.
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