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Football revival, breath of fresh air

 

It has never been in contention that football is the most popular sport in Kenya.

Though the love for local football has been waning as fans have kept off the stadiums and many would rather sit in front of their television sets to watch the English Premier League.

A lot has been said about this behaviour without asking ourselves just why fans are not very keen on local football.

But in Mombasa, the love for local football is still very much alive. In the last two years we have seen a sense of enthusiasm that was last witnessed in the 70s and 80s.

Thousands of local fans throng playgrounds to support their clubs with shocking eagerness, bordering on fanaticism. The Mombasa County Premier League has taken off with a bang!

Last Saturday at Bilima grounds in Kisauni, Mvita Youngsters were hosted by Dayton FC; the match was astonishingly well-attended and many fans had commuted from as far as Mariakani just to come and watch the match!

The game ended 3-1 in the favour of the visitors, and the singing and dancing went on for hours.

This young team is so well-organised and closely knit; their jerseys and shoes look as if they belong to a European team; they have a team bus, their allowances are paid on time and they are well catered for in every manner possible!

They have sponsors and a patron! It looked like a dream. There are many teams playing in the higher leagues that do not have even a semblance of order and their unhappy players would think we are just pulling their leg with this anecdote.

We know of teams that dish out walkovers because they could not afford to travel and honour an away encounter; we know of teams whose lads have not been paid for almost a year and only keep playing for the sake of it. That is not the case with the Mombasa Premier League!

The league comprises 18 teams, all from Mombasa, and the players are young and promising.

This league is a breakaway league from the Football Kenya Federation, and therein lies our greatest fears.

The federation is bound to raise questions; throw in some doubts; issue threats and generally tame it out of existence! Should they do so, that will be a big mistake.

It is time that Kandanda House learns from its organisation and attractiveness to reawaken football enthusiasm in the country.

It is also a model for other counties to put more effort on their youth just as Mombasa is doing now. It is just the beginning, and we will do more to inform Kenyans on the direction this salutary and bold initiative takes.

We thank the organisers of this noble thing and wish them well.      BY DAILY NATION      

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