Hussein confident of stabilising FKF despite biting financial challenges

Football Kenya Federation (FKF) president Hussein Mohammed has affirmed Kenya will be ready in time to host the African Nations Championship (CHAN) in August, despite growing uncertainty on preparedness.

According to Hussein, Kenya is headed in the right direction ahead of the tournament alongside Uganda and Tanzania, despite the challenges endured by the Hussein-led regime since taking over from Nick Mwendwa’s administration in December 2024.

While the CHAN headache has been in the headlines for a long time especially on the question of stadia renovations, the FKF president has revealed they inherited a huge load of bothering issues from his predecessor, especially huge debts owed to several service providers.

Speaking at the ninth FKF Congress on Saturday, Hussein gave the example of KSh. 80 million owed to former Harambee Stars head coach Engin Firat, as part of unpaid salaries.

Firat who resigned in December 2024 soon after Mwendwa’s outer, had consistently cited non-payment of his dues for nearly a year. The Turkish tactician still had a valid contract running until 2026.

"We have had a number of financial issues inherited from the past administration but I can report that for the first time Kenya has submitted an audit report free of discrepancies.

“We still have a long way to go but we focused in the mission to deliver for Kenyans," Hussein reported.

Hussein also stated that they are building towards better financial discipline, and emphasised on the importance of honesty and transparency especially in the financial running of the organization.

"We are working on improving fiscal discipline in the organisation. We are also appealing to FIFA to reconsider the penalties that Kenya had incurred in the previous FKF administration," Stated the FKF president.

This comes at a time a section of Harambee Starlets players have reportedly staged a go-slow demanding unpaid allowances.

Citizen Digital has learnt that only 14 out of the 23 players who have been called up for next week’s international friendlies in Morocco had reported to camp by Sunday morning. This includes local based players and just two foreign based players.

The remaining players are reportedly demanding payment of allowances from the April friendly matches against Ivory Coast, further underlining the financial pressure the federation is facing.

However, Hussein believes there will be a sigh of relief soon, calling for togetherness in pursuit for stability.

Reports that some of the top officials have been pulling in different directions just under six months since the Hussein’s administration came into the office have not helped efforts of fining quick relief.