Don’t congest KPL matches again, pleads Matano

Tusker fc head coach Robert Matano has appraised the 2018/2019 Kenya Premier League (KPL) season as a tough one because of clogged fixtures meant to align KPL with the FIFA calendar.

Still, Matano blamed match clogging for deprived football show in the season since it led to players fatigue and poor football display compared to the other seasons.

“It was really tight, a lot of matches in a short span caused injuries like now I have around four players injured, the season was quite tiring and I think that we should never repeat such a thing because it has cost us a lot,” said Robert Matano after Tusker’s 2-1 win over Posta Rangers.

The Tusker Coach said the players were not mentally and physically prepared to endure such a jammed fixture.

“Previously we have been playing one match a week and I think we should stick to that because it gives more time to train before a match and also helps players to approach a game with optimistic mental state,” Added Matano

On the other hand, Former Football Kenya Federation(FKF) president Sam Nyamweya said local football administrators should have come up with a better way of ensuring Kenyan Premier League aligns itself with FIFA’s international calendar without disrupting clubs. This made it difficult for teams to plan their finances, leading to chaos.

Nyamweya said FKF mismanaged the transition in total discount for other tournaments that Kenyan clubs compete in, saying that Gor Mahia had to juggle between matches in Caf tournaments and those in SportPesa Premier League and SportPesa Shield, all running in tandem.

Conversely, Matano noted that the KPL has not improved that much as this season saw teams forfeit matches because of lack of sponsors and financial instability which is not virtuous.

“Previously Kenyan League was entertaining because we had Supersport on board which saw players play really well to be seen and get international recognition, in fact we sold a lot of players out because of Supersport.”

Matano noted that the league is not that bad but there are somethings which need to be looked into to warrant that teams honour matches and are also financially stable, since players similarly need to earn something for a living.

The brewers managed to scoop the fourth position on the Kenya premier league log bagging 56 points which equals the points they secured on the previous season.

“I appreciate the position that we are, because we have surely come from far and am currently trying to build the young players and integrate them with the seniors so that we can get a good team for the future;

The brewers concluded the season with a win after thumping Posta Rangers 2-1.