Youth Affairs, Sports and Arts Cabinet Secretary, Ababu Namwamba says he had to resolve the football stalemate in the country because he wanted to bring to an end the suffering of players.On Friday, the new CS agreed to adhere to the demands of FIFA and restored FKF, he also lifted the suspension of the National Executive Committee (NEC), and the football administrators, who have been in the cold for the last year to return to office on Saturday and plan for the new season that is expected to commence in the course of the month.##NAJAVA_MECA_6787043##Kenya’s troubles began in November 2021 when former Sports CS Amina Mohammed disbanded the federation and installed a caretaker committee to run football in the country. This resulted in Kenya being suspended by FIFA over government interference.During this period, Kenya has missed the 2023 AFCON qualifiers, 2022 Women AFCON, 2023 CHAN qualifiers, CECAFA Women Championship, CECAFA U17, U20, and U23 championships among other competitions. Clubs have also felt the heat as Tusker and Vihiga Queens who won the men’s and women’s league titles respectively did not feature in continental competitions.Namwamba has explained that the status quo could not continue as players have been suffering during the suspension period.“I am a real football person, I am a sports person and I feel the pain. I know that football is not just fun, it is not just entertainment. Football is a livelihood, sports is a livelihood and those young people have responsibilities, they have families they have to take care of other commitments and freezing football is literally sending them down the drain, they can’t pay rent, they can’t buy food, they can’t send their children to school,” the CS said on Friday while announcing the reinstatement of FKF.It took new sports minister @AbabuNamwamba a week to reach an agreement with the @Football_Kenya leadership. The former regime couldn’t agree in over a year… pic.twitter.com/u39lAmeKaB— Eric Njiru (@EricNjiiru) November 4, 2022 He also thanked all the football stakeholders that he engaged in the past few days for being very supportive.“For this to delay any further is unacceptable I also believe in consensus and I really want to thank the entirety of the football fraternity they have been forthcoming. Anybody that I have invited here for consultations has turned up. The clubs, the coaches, all these stakeholders have shown up and they have come with ideas,” he added.Oguda wants return of Kenyan Premier League Limited
