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Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Premier League outfit AFC Leopards chairman Dan Shikanda claims that the once mighty Kenyan club could not be in existence had he not taken charge of the leadership at the Den.

Shikanda, who took charge of Ingwe in 2019 before he was re-elected on June 26, 2022, has admitted the club had sunk too low by the time he took over but because of his dedication to the team, he managed to salvage their stay in the top-flight.

“Honestly speaking when I stepped into the leadership of the Den I realised there were more problems than could meet solutions, the depth of where we had sunk was too dip and I can confidently say if maybe AFC Leopards didn’t have a passionate chairman somebody, who can stop his life to make sure that we save the club, maybe the club could have gone, I can say that authoritatively,” said Shikanda.

He added: “Let me give you examples, I took the leadership of Leopards when it was 18th on the log, we came in as a rescue team and we realised the players we had (of course a long time ago, AFC and Gor Mahia used to dominate the national team), there was no quality, there was nothing when your team doesn’t have a player in the national team, you should now know you are not at the top anymore.”

Shikanda further explained why Ingwe were on the brink of being relegated during the Covid-19 pandemic season.

“First and foremost, I can say was it not for our planning and knowing the game, I think AFC Leopards could have been relegated, and people will start thinking Leopards found themselves in the situation because of mismanagement, no… we were in this position because of the setbacks the world had in Covid-19 and also when our sponsor left,” added Shikanda.