Doris Petra: My wish for Kenyan football in the New Year

The just ended Year 2022 has been nothing short of tumultuous for Kenyan football.

The ever raging leadership squabbles in the game so loved by so many culminated in the dreaded FIFA ban in February after the government wielded the big cane, dissolving the entire Football Kenya Federation, FKF National Executive Committee (NEC) over alleged maladministration and graft.

With the ban, the football calender, especially at international level, was totally ruined. Sponsors and fans fled, pilling more financial misery on already crippled clubs.

Allegations of match fixing rocked many leagues, leaving a lot of question marks about the integrity of the season.

Normalcy appeared to have returned late last year when the new Cabinet Secretary for Sports Hon Ababu Namwamba successfully convinced FIFA to lift the ban, but still there many issues including relegations and promotions that remain unsolved with many court cases still filled at the Sports Disputes Tribunal, SDT.

Speaking to Mozzart Sport for the first time this new year, the acting FKF President Doris Petra spelt out her wishes for the year, including for the courts battles to be settled.

"We need to move forward, but we can't do that with the many cases in court. We're still engaging the aggrieved parties for the best way forward. Some have agreed with us and have resumed players while the others have stuck to their guns. My only desire is for the cases to conclude as soon as possible."

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Doris wants to see more financially stable clubs and is imploring sponsors to come on board. She's also urging the government to keep their word on supporting clubs.

"Clubs are suffering especially ladies team. We're engaging different sponsors and we hope to bring the on board soon. The Government also promised to support clubs and we're looking forward to that. "

A FIFA delegation is expected in the country as early as next week. They are expected to among other things, monitor the return of football in the hands of the FKF.

"As a federation, we're very open to meeting FIFA and hearing from them. We are committed to running the game and are hoping to continue doing so."