FKF to vet foreign coaches interested in local clubs

Football Kenya Federation (FKF) on Saturday passed a resolution demanding clubs interested in foreign coaches services to present their names for vetting before sealing official contracts.

Delegates at the 2018 Annual General Meeting (AGM) in a Kisumu Hotel unanimously agreed to the proposal, aiming at curbing entry of quacks in the country and promoting homegrown coaches.

FKF president Nick Mwendwa presented the proposal to the delegates emphasizing the move will not only guard clubs from exploitation by ‘journey men’ but also improve the reputation of the league.

“We have been having cases of tourists coming over and before you know anything they are already coaching a club. We wan’t to ensure we have credible coaches whose previous records can be traced and see whether their papers are genuine,” charged Mwendwa.

Further, Mwendwa noted the coaches will have to pay an application fee of KSh. 100,000 to the federation before commencement of the vetting process, with Kenyan Premier League (KPL) clubs and the National Super League (NSL) ones only allowed to hire coaches with at least CAF C license.

“This money will be a commitment of seriousness that whoever is coming is not trying things, but is really willing to work and leave a positive mark in Kenya. We have been training local coaches thus we are not asking for what we don’t have, so we will gradually move from C coaches to be, and by 2021 we may only work with the level A ones only,” asserted Mwendwa

Leopards first affected

Local giants AFC Leopards will be the first to be affected by the decision, as they plan to hire a foreign coach in the next one week.

“We are bringing a new coach whose name cannot be revealed for now but we are rushing the deal so that by November 5 he be in charge when we start our preseason. I believe the rule will help us even as we hope to have the incoming coach complete his tenure without any trouble,” offered Mule.

Meanwhile, Mule revealed the incoming coach will be free to pick his technical bench without interference, to avoid cases of divided bench.

“We are tired of this back and forth thing of coaches at Leopards. It has affected us massively, thus we will allow him to choose who to work with. Rodolfo Zapata had issues with some technical bench and there was no way they were to get result in such a scenario,” told the soft spoken Mule, who also revealed Ingwe will sign two strikers, a centre back and an foreign goalkeeper.

Zapata was fired towards the end of last season, leaving former Kenyan international Tom Juma leading the club on a caretaker basis, with the assistance of Team Manager Gilbert Selebwa.