Wednesday 29 February 2012

Rangers Football Club to Disband...

It's never good to hear of budding talent and promising institutions close shop and this one on Rangers United Football Club isn't either. This club had lots of promise going into the 2011/12 season having come in as one of 3 promoted sides from the country's Nationwide League.

Oh no....
But their success was tempered by their then sponsors Postal Corporation of Kenya ( a most notorious Corporation for building sports teams and players only to bail out on them at the hour of need, check the hockey and volleyball ladies teams).
Their last season was a tough one for the team surviving on handouts even as its officials went round the corporate world with an enviable record and promising start to the season. This was short-lived with the team barely scraping through to avoid relegation.According to Press reports, the current Football Kenya Federation, Sam Nyamweya is rumoured to have bankrolled the club's salaries and wages to players and management. (Unconfirmed sources also tell us that the team had secured a corporate sponsor who had agreed to part with about KSh. 30 million and which they offered 10% of last season to help the team secure their place in the Premier League...)
Its chairman Yobes Ondieki Ongeri is reported to have given up on securing financial support hence throwing the gauntlet on the team's hopes.
Of urgency is how KPL will address the issue to ensure either the club receives emergency funds to be able to make it through the league or seek alternative representation since the fixtures including Rangers had already been scheduled.

It also calls to enquiry the financial health of other clubs which might have similar if not worse ramifications. Last year at least a 1/3 of the League's teams had this or that issue with players' salaries, lack of transport to honour fixtures and management wages. What happens to the SuperSport TV revenues pledged? What measures do Kenyan football clubs have to ensure longevity and survival of their clubs? Is the success of a few clubs blinding us to see what is the real situation on Kenyan club football? 

Your work is cut out for you, KPL honchos!

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