Bitok ready to drop bid for KVF top job

Stanley Mativo

Paul Bitok has suggested he could drop his intentions to run for the Kenya Volleyball Federation (KVF) presidency in 2022 if his bid leaves a taint on his reign as Malkia Strikers head coach.

The tactician, whose rich volleyball CV includes a decorated spell in Rwanda, says he is ready to scale down his ambitions of succeeding long-serving KVF boss Waithaka Kioni and focus solely on delivering from the touchline.

Bitok’s return to the country to coach the Malkia Strikers has been viewed as part of a grand masterplan to use his success on the job to fuel his own ambitions to ascend to the ascent to the KVF presidency and most believe he is the prime candidate to take over.

Speaking after meeting the KVF’s league teams’ managers on the sidelines of the ongoing league final leg in Kapsabet, Bitok downplayed claims he is coming up with many proposals of changing the game as a way of campaigning for the top seat.

“I have dropped my dream for now because many people think I am engaging myself very much in the game to campaign for 2022 elections. I will now concentrate on how to improve the game and my record will speak for myself because we cannot do things the same way we used to do when I was a player,” he told Citizen Digital.

The towering coach however believes the adoption of his proposal by the KVF, is the secret weapon in making Kenya a force to reckon with in volleyball.

Mid this year, the 46- year old volleyball titan, proposed among other things a change of the national league format to be played on home and away basis with all the matches being played indoors.

Following the adoption of his document, the 2020/2021 season will serve off in October and conclude in May the following year, with the period between May and June specifically left for national team assignments and beach volleyball.

“I hope they will make it a reality because we all want to see a competitive league which can attract crowds and sponsors. Also, we have to follow FIVB calendar in order to avoid confusion where players are in national team duty and they are missing in their clubs because our league is running concurrently with other international championships,” he told.

Also the league for both men and women will be played by 12 teams and in four phases namely classificatory, quarterfinal, semifinal and final. The teams will form a single group and be listed according to their technical level in the previous season.

The Kasarani Indoor Arena and Makande Gymnasium, Mombasa, will be used to host the league matches from next year as the outdoor will be a thing of the past.

Bitok added that he has already reached an agreement with a potential sponsor who is ready to pump money into the game and he will be announced immediately after the conclusion of this year’s play-offs to be held at the Kasarani Indoor Arena from November 22-24.