Former AFC Leopards boss Ssemi Aina.

Former Leopards boss urges FKF to stamp authority

Former AFC Leopards boss Ssemi Aina has backed Football Kenya Federation (FKF) in the on-going league tussle against Kenyan Premier League (KPL) on the expansion of the league.
Aina who is now the chairman of National Super League outfit Rift Valley United said FKF president Sam Nyamweya has the mandate to run football in the country and urged the federation to urgently crack the whip on KPL to ensure the new league runs smoothly.
Aina’s comments came on a day that the feud escalated as the federation launched FKF Premier League and released their fixtures for the season as KPL’s governing council maintained on their stance to go ahead with a 16-team league from February 16.
“The Cabinet Secretary of Sports Hassan Wario must step in and show leadership in this whole issue. Just like the way the government was given the mandate by Kenyans and must be respected so is FKF which is the legitimate body with officials elected in a democratic manner in 2011,” said Aina.
He added: “As a major stake holder in the sport I am fully supporting the expansion of the league in order to take the development of the sport to another level and also give more community clubs a chance to play top flight football.”
Aina said it was not possible for KPL to run a parallel league because they did not have the mandate and that it would be weird because they can only promote teams from the FKF run Super League or will not be able to relegate or promote teams.
“Most teams in the Super League have been yearning to play top flight football and in case some of the major teams fail to join the FKF League, we as Rift Valley United are more than ready to take the chance and I’m sure many more share the same feeling,” said Aina.
He added: “Going by last season’s GOTv Shield campaign, it was evident that Super League teams have what it takes to compete against the best because one lost narrowly in the final of the competition and they had two representatives in the semis. West Kenya Sugar and Rangers.”