The Kenya Women’s Premier League is set to revert back to the unified league format only a season after adopting the zonal system.
With the 2021-2022 season set for October 30th kickoff, stakeholders however want Football Kenya Federation to address issues to do with funding to try and avoid the past failures. Kisumu All Starlets team manager, Beryl Oketch said as much as the league will be competitive in the combined setup, FKF must honour their cash pledge in full for smooth operation. “Let the federation honour their pledges to pay the full grants if the format is to work. For example, each club was to get Sh400,000 last season but the federation only managed half of that,” she said.
“If the situation doesn’t change, we are staring at another disaster with clubs dishing out walkovers at will. The likes of Makolanders and Eldoret Falcons were pioneers of this league but were relegated with lack of funding as the main contributor,” added Oketch. Six teams (three from each zone) were relegated last season with Bunyore Starlets and Kangemi Ladies gaining promotion to the 12-team league. According to Kayole Starlets coach Joshua Sakwa, the only way to solve the financial quagmire bedevilling clubs is for the federation to ensure there’s a sponsor on board.
The women’s league has not had a sponsor and FKF’s decision to go back to the old format last season was to help cut costs. Kangemi Ladies gaffer, Joseph Orao Odhiambo said some teams will be forced to take few players to their away matches in order to cut costs. This, he believes, will dampen the spirit of players and reduce the league’s fan-fare.