Shame on the depressing state of the first women's league

"When I thought I would succeed in life with football. You see, my mother still lives in the ghetto. I eat once a day. Football pays, but not in Kenya. They killed my dream. #changingmygloves. "

It was a Facebook publication of Harambee Starlets' starter of choice, Pauline Owuor, who is also playing for Makolanders FC of KWPL (Premier League) two weeks ago.

Coming from a woman as talented and experienced in football, the post has been widely shared, giving a sad but inevitable spotlight on the atrocious conditions currently experienced by local footballers.

This season alone, 19 assists were held in the top women's league, while three of the 15 teams (Vihiga Leeds, Nyuki Starlets and Spedag) were relegated for not having honored three matches of the season. The Mathare United women's team is just one step forward to succumb to this same undesirable destiny.

That's not all. The referees who lead the high-level women have not been paid for months and have threatened to no longer have tools because of the difficult financial situation.

The 16 players with whom Nation Sport had contacts during this interview lamented the status of KWPL and worried about the future of the league.


The FKF, however, claimed that all these problems stemmed from the bureaucracy at Fifa.

"We did not retain the financial subsidies of the teams. A process must be followed before the member football associations (FA) have access to the money, and we have not yet received our share of Fifa. There was also a delay at a time comparable to that of last year, but when the money arrived, we made all the necessary resources available, "said Barry Otieno, FKF's communications officer, who currently holds the position of Executive Director of the Federation.



The KWPL is entitled to a grant of 12 million shillings for the season, with each of the 15 teams receiving 750,000 shillings each season.

This money, however, has become a poisoned chalice, with some club administrators complaining of an unfair split.

"The problem is that there is favoritism. Some teams receive funds from FIFA, others do not. Some teams are allowed to postpone their matches, others not, hence the high number of strides, "said Beryl Oketch, head of the Kisumu All Starlets team.

Monique, whose mother organizes the team for lunch at home each time she travels to Nairobi for outside games, said her team is determined to stay strong.

"It's difficult, but we will not stop. We do not have a sponsor, but we usually collect money between us and club supporters. At the moment, I have collected some 14,000 shillings and I think we will go to Nairobi tomorrow (yesterday) for our away match, "she said.

Two months ago, representatives of 11 of the 15 participating KWPL clubs met and accused the FKF, among other things, of failing to disburse in time the annual grants of 750,000 shillings to each team.

A day later, FKF reacted in a twisted way. Robert Muthomi, the disgraced chief executive, wrote a letter to the teams in which he asked officials to clarify their loyalty.

"Please note that, in accordance with the FKF rules governing Kenyan football, only the National Executive Committee has the power to suspend /