Ten Football Kenya Federation (FKF) sub-branches have dismissed calls for the formation of a normalization committee insisting that the country does not warrant such.
The sub-branches have instead expressed concern that the country risks being banned if it goes against the FIFA directive issued late last month, a move that could water many gains made over the last four years.
According to Elias Murega who chairs the Meru Central sub-branch, those calling for the formation of such a committee has no interest in football in the country and are only interested in the country getting a ban from FIFA.
“Those calling for normalization committee have no teams they are running and so their only interest is to spoil what has been built on the ground. It is a well-known fact that FIFA does not condone any form of interference which will attract a ban,” said Murega, who doubles up as the MCA for Meru Central ward.
Murega also serves as the Deputy Speaker in the Meru County Assembly.
Busia sub-branch chairman Hillary Wandera said those calling for a normalization committee have not been active in football and as such, don’t have the interests of football stakeholders at heart.
“The real stakeholders are players, coaches and referees and they are satisfied with what has been done so far. In Western branch, we did not support the current regime when they were elected but they have done a lot to convince us that they deserved to be in the office.
“For the first time, we have had coaching and referees’ courses as well as active youth programs. We don’t want to spoil all these good with a FIFA ban,” he said.
Westlands sub-branch Chairman Hamisi Maleya said there is no crisis to warrant a normalization committee.
“We have had activities going on for the last four years and therefore the is nothing to be normalized. Such a committee only comes into place when there is a huge crisis which is not the case.
“We are not afraid of repeating the elections even ten times as we are confident of winning,” he said.
Suba sub-branch secretary Peter Diela said such a committee if put in place, will halt the number of activities on the ground.
“Let us give credit where it is due. For the first time, we as Suba-branch have a running league. Our referees and coaches have also been trained and are giving back to the youth. Sponsors have also come on board at our level and we, therefore, don’t see the need for such a committee,” he said.
Other sub-branches who dismissed the formation of a normalization committee are Kaloleni,
Machakos, Siaya, Kitui, Dagoretti, and Kisumu.
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