National Super League (NSL) side Kisumu All Stars have announced that they will not travel to Kirinyaga for Sunday’s league match against Fortune Sacco due to financial challenges.The Salim Babu-led team is scheduled to play Fortune on Sunday as they seek to build on their midweek win over SS Assad. It however appears that they could issue a walkover due to financial problems. The club has issued a statement saying they are unable to travel for the game.”Apologies to our fans. Due to financial constraints, we are unable to honour our tomorrow’s fixture in Kirinyaga. But we hope to bounce back soon,” read a statement from club CEO Nicholas Ochieng.Despite being owned and backed by the Kisumu County government, All-Stars’ financial challenges are well documented and played a part in their relegation from the top tier in 2020. This was as a result of players and staff going for months without any remuneration.UPDATE: The #NSL fixture between SS Assad and Coastal Heroes originally set for Sunday 19 December has been brought forward and will now be played on Saturday 18 December 2021. Time and venue remain unchanged. pic.twitter.com/FuYvkSCx1Y— FKFcaretaker (@FKFcaretaker) December 17, 2021 This is despite endless promises from the county government promising to foot all the team’s bills. The latest announcement is a major setback for coach Babu who was confident that his team would be promoted at the end of the season before the campaign started.Meanwhile, on Saturday, just one National Super League match will be played with the rest pencilled for Sunday in different parts of the country after which the league will take a one-week Christmas break. The sole Saturday game will be between SS Assad and Coastal Heroes. The match will be played at Mabaki Sports Club from 3 PM.
