Mugata urges players to take up sports management

Former Harambee Stars striker Patrick Mugata has urged retired footballers to take up management positions in the running of sport saying it’s the only way to uplift standards of the game in the country.

Mugata says the current crop of leaders and their predecessors have slowed  the growth of Kenyan football because their focus is skewed by their political ambitions.

He says that Uganda and Ivory Coast are doing well in soccer thanks to former players being in charge.

“When you go to Uganda and Ivory Coast you will realize that football honchos are former players.

But here in Kenya things are exactly opposite, leaders who are finding their way in top positions in football have political ambitions and therefore use their offices to steal money allocated to them by FIFA,” the former defunct Mumias Sugar FC player said.

Mugata has also scolded the Kenyan government for not adding any international stadium to the colonial Moi Internatinal Sports Centre Kasarani and Nyayo National Stadium.

“Since Kenya got independence upto now how many stadia have been erected so far apart from the only two international stadia which were constructed by Moi?

How comes these regimes that succeeded have not even constructed a single stadium that they can be proud and boast of?” he questioned.

At a club level, AFC Leopards is currently led by former player Dan Shikanda who also featured for Gor Mahia while Nzoia Sugar is led by Evans Kadenge who also played for Ingwe.

Former players have found it tough to ascend to the top leadership to have a say in the Kenyan football with the main reason being likely lack of financial stamina.

Boniface Ambani who was the top scorer in 1998 with Mugata, unsuccessfully vied for the Leopards chairmanship thanks to a number of former players who endorsed Shikanda.

Allan Wanga recently announced to go for the Football Kenya Federation presidency before going silent on the intentions.

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AFC Leopards Harambee Stars Patrick Mugata

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