Gor's Otieno and Vihiga boss Mururi slam decision to void FKF-PL season

Gor Mahia FC captain has said the players are infuriated by the decision to void the 2021/22 FKF Premier League season because it diminishes their efforts for that period.

Otieno says a lot of players suffered injuries and the club went through severe financial challenges just to see out a football season that in effect has been cancelled.

The reinstated Football Kenya Federation officials announced on Wednesday it was voiding last season, nullifying all promotions and relegations that resulted from it.

“We went through a lot of challenges as players and as a club through the last season. The nullification of the entire season is a blow to us having wasted a lot of time training and playing,” Otieno said.

The right back however welcomed the decision to start the season on November 19 as announced by the FKF CEO Barry Otieno in a letter.

“We are now happy because we can train knowing we are in the right position. We were in totally confused and could not even guess our fate.”

Otieno said the three-month delay has had adverse effects on players, and especially those who entirely depend on football for a living.

In a related interview, Vihiga United head coach Mike Mururi has said the nullification of last season’s FKF-PL is a slap in the face of teams that earned promotion after excelling in their football tiers.

His sentiment follows the decision by Football Kenya Federation to void the 2021/22 season that was run under the administration of the FKF Transition Committee.

“The promoted teams that were expecting to hit the ground running in the Premier League will feel saddened by the decision because they invested a lot to reach where they have reached and were very ready to go head to head with the big boys in the country.

“Where money is used to fund such and then you hear that the whole process is nullified, it won’t go well with the affected,” Mururi said.

The Committee was formed by the former Sports Cabinet Secretary Ambassador Amina Mohammed after disbanding FKF in November last year on allegations of financial misappropriation.

The former Kenyan international has however admitted that last season's league was surrounded by confusion, affecting the clubs’ concentration and leading to a number of walkover games.

“You know last season we didn’t have clarity as to who is running football but I want to say that the league was not run as it should have been.

“There was Caretaker and then Transition committee and so a lot of confusion which even saw many teams give walkovers because the matches were seen as just friendlies,” Mururi stated.

Following Wednesday’s declaration, Mathare United and Vihiga Bullets will remain in the top-flight league while National Super League champions APS Bomet and first runners-up Fortune Sacco miss out on the FKF-PL ticket.