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Webster Nyandika

Former Kenya Football Federation (KFF) vice president Odundo Kabanze has called on local football stake holders pressurising the Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed to stop misadvising her on the issue and urged all parties to wait for the April 6 proposed meeting by world football governing body Fifa to solve the current impasse.

Kabanze, who was in office the last time Fifa banned Kenya due to government interference, told People Sport that only Fifa had the authority to form a normalisation committee and if the CS formed her own, it will not be recognised by Fifa and it will invite a ban.

“Let everyone wait for the Monday meeting that Fifa proposed in their letter written last weak, and from that meeting I’m sure we will get a solution,” Kabanze said.

He added: “In 2006, the then Sports Minister Maina Kamanda was misadvised and went ahead to appoint a normalisation committee led by lawyer Mtana Lewa, but it failed to even take off and led to our suspension and as a result, all local players could not move to foreign clubs, we could not have referee appointments for international matches, our national teams and clubs could not play in international events and we did not qualify for Fifa grants.”

Fifa, in a letter written by Chief Officer of Member Associations Veron Mosengo-Omba, last week dismissed a ruling made by the Sports Disputes Tribunal on March 17, but noted that it was ready to meet FKF officials, the CS, SDT chairman John Ohaga and any other stake holder on April 6, for the sake of peace to find a way forward.

“Let all these guys with grievances wait for the meeting with Fifa and convience Fifa against the current regime and if they do that succesfully, Fifa will give the best directive,” Kabanze said.

He added: “That’s what we did against Alfred Sambu in 2006 after our ban was lifted, because even after getting a personal warning from the global body on the way the league was being run, he still insisted that AFC Leopards could not be relegated despite the fact that they were second last on the log.

So if there is any genuine complain against the current FKF president Nick Mwendwa and his team, Fifa will listen and act accordingly.”