‘FKF clean up unstoppable’ – CS Mohamed after Fifa suspension of Kenya

Cabinet Secretary for Sports, Amina Mohamed, has described Fifa’s suspension as a blessing in disguise for Kenya and said the process to clean up the Football Kenya Federation is unstoppable.

The world governing body suspended Kenya, and Zimbabwe, for what they perceived as government interference, and now Mohamed said it accorded the country a chance to fix its issues.

Blessing in Disguise

“The suspension was a blessing in disguise. It just offered us ample time to fix the mess in football,” Mohamed said as per Standard Sports.

“We hope that the roadmap we have defined will take us to a destination where we are comfortable with the legal and policy framework.”

The Minister added that their pursuit to put the FKF in order is a process that will not be stopped.

“The clean-up is stoppable. Generally, we expected the ban. Fifa, to some extent, saw the need for us to do a clean-up in our football. We know it will have some impact,” she added.

“My pleasant surprise is that it came so late. We knew we would be suspended. But we will engage Fifa to unlock the deadlock and we will have talks in the next few days.

"As soon as we are ready, we will invite Fifa. We are scheduled to have discussions over a few days. We have a mandate that was handed to the FKF caretaker committee and wait for them to discharge the mandate.

“It has to be concluded before any changes to the manner in which we will conduct our affairs. We will agree on the way forward thereafter.”

New Constitution

Amina further revealed that the new FKF constitution is ready. The Aaron Ringera committee had been given eight weeks to work on the draft before it is submitted to the stakeholders and finally to Fifa for approval.

“The draft also makes reference to the 2010 constitution and the Sports Act in a more detailed manner than the current constitution,” concluded the CS.

Fifa had given Kenya an ultimatum to restore the FKF’s elected national executive committee – led by Vice-President Doris Petra and Chief Executive Officer Barry Otieno - that was disbanded.

However, Fifa reiterated its commitment to cooperating with any ongoing investigations regarding FKF officials and that they will remain at the disposal of the national authorities during the suspension period.