 Good afternoon and welcome back to the touchline on Y254. My name is Max Olwaseke. This time round we are speaking about the sponsorship of Kenyan football following the announcements by football Kenya Federation President Nick Mwenwa, especially with regards to broadcasts and television deals for KPL and National Super League, of course which are first and second tier respectively. I am talking to these tolest men in the house, Barry Seela, a sports journalist alongside Roni Aloyo, a sports consultant. It's been a while man, where have you been? Roni man, I haven't seen you in a while, I think the last time we saw each other is a year ago. Yeah it's been a minute but you know it's sports and also just trying to find our way in the market. Yeah but I'm happy to be back. Good to know that you are doing good things outside there, sports related of course just ensuring that you know we get to another level as far as growth and development of our game. Ah has it been like tough? I mean it's important but then football particularly in Kenya it's a tough sport. The stakeholders are also not doing enough to help the sports grow. Government is doing its part but I don't think it's also enough to take football and sports generally to the next level. And one of the biggest concerns as you've earlier pointed out in the show is the issue of sponsorship because that's what drives growth in sports. Then the other thing is investment in facilities like stadium and as the job goes the famous Kamarini stadium is yet to be done. In the next seven years. Barry, how about yourself? You know with COVID pandemic here with us hitting a lot of people I've seen you gaining weight. Contra the expectation as people continue to get emaciated because of hard living. You as is. So like Roni I think we all miss sports we wanted to come back. President Uru the other day directed the ministry to fast track the process of getting back to sports. Sport activities as told and I think it's important that we get back so that we get going. It remembers things like qualifiers are around the corner for football. African qualifiers. If we are not practicing we have a friendly with Zambia I think in the next few weeks we have not done anything. So people are desperate to get back and so are we so that we give coverage as well. And I was in Shags during the last few weeks and people are just playing. Football is there. People are passionate about the game. People are playing despite the fact that Mohammad said you know those outdoor sports disciplines that involve a lot of people coming together should not be resumed. I think what's happening is that people are tired of waiting and I think some people also picking up from what politicians are doing. They are busy meeting up everywhere but them they can't do anything. So I think it's also they don't have capacity to check everywhere. People are playing and football will go on and sports will go on. The only thing I mean needs to do now is to open. Sure. Do you agree that I mean as you open? Yeah but then obviously with caution you just can't throw caution to the wind. I mean there is concerns about covid 2.0 coming again. In the U.S. for instance I mean it's going to the highest office possible and we don't want that to happen here. Yes in as much as you also want sports to be back we also go to ensure that we like just maintain the protocols. But important to mention for Arambistas the minister said that she'll offer them as much support as possible so they can also start preparing for the qualifiers. They have a friendly against Zambia in a couple of weeks and also the qualifier against Komoros then again another return leg. So I mean for Arambistas particularly a good number of players have been away for a bunch of months actually and it's going to be interesting to see what happens especially now that they've not been actively playing. Let's just speak it from where you've left. Talking about Arambistas the national team assignments against Zambia in a friendly clash and African Cup of Nations qualifier against Komoros we saw the provisional squad being named by the head coach Francis Kimansi and you know exciting names notable inclusions and quite surprise omissions. Arnoldo Rigi the former goalkeeper after several years not playing for the national team is making a comeback. Close to four years. Close to four years. Is his inclusion necessary? I don't think so I think yes Kimansi this is called a provisional squad but we have to realize Arnold had made a decision to quit and now he's back I think because of his showing and we have also had a big problem in that department of goalkeeping. You realize even Matasi who helped us some time back is not even in this squad so I think he's bringing in experience so that to boost the confidence of the other keepers on the side but if you asked me I don't think it was necessary for for Arnoldo to come back. Goalkeeping crisis as Barry is indicating is it true that there is alakuna as far as a man standing between the goalposts for the national team Arambistas is concerned we have the likes of Ian Odieno who has been doing pretty good job in Zambia sorry to have Premier League and of course was it was it necessary to exclude Patrick Matasi on what basis? Well yes and no because Matasi came in was obviously the main the number one keeper going into AFKON head instructors where he played well like served some penalties at AFKON but then he also had some howlers there so now the question is well it's actually not a question it goes without saying that the Rigi coming back is obviously going to be the number one keeper because Matasi's backup Faruk Shikalo plays for Yanga is not in the squad anymore so obviously Rigi is coming in for the number one position. I've seen opinion on social media some fans are saying okay that Kymanzi is favoring his people his people being the likes of Arnold Rigi but if you look at the matches in Finland Rigi is playing he's played even this week he's is looking good he's looking solid at 36 years if I'm not wrong good edge for a keeper has good good experience but then the big question is what does that potent for or what does that or where does that put the local goalkeepers you know they probably will say okay I'm working hard then Rigi just comes and takes my position it's also a question of merit and experience I just don't know but it's a tough balance I just wish Kymanzi will maintain some consistency in goal. The factors that might have been put into consideration before naming the provisional squad considering during coronavirus pandemic a lot of players haven't been active you know training engaging in fitness exercises what do you think he based on before naming those players we've also seen standard practice international even the likes of Garret Southgate calling their squads ahead of assignments for national team football competitions I don't know what are the facts I think this one it caught everyone you know of God including the coach himself so I suspect to a large extent he wanted to you know get players who had had done the chat before if you look at maybe Lawrence Muguna some of these key players who were even in seka for matches tournaments they played and in Afkona they were there as fringe players but now what needs to happen what happened is if you look at that squad as well we have people who are now regularly playing on Lunga, so as to mix with these other guys who probably only training at home because we are not no training is happening so it's it's a bit of a tough balancing act for for Kymanzi but let's see it it's it's been interesting to see new interesting names like Clark O'Dore from Bansley some of these guys who have not really played and I think he scored yesterday yes he scored yeah so if you look I think what Kymanzi is trying to do get as much as people have played and mixed with these guys and try to balance a team in my view so we should relieve the coach to do his job without poking holes and scrutinizing what he's doing he sounds a tidy because as they always say the coaching selection is final well just like what happened before African Cup of Nations where Sebastian Mini did some mistakes you know meeting the likes of Anthony Akumu and a lot of complaints on social media platforms that you know this is the player who deserved an inclusion he's been left out and we were told by the federation selection is a responsibility of the coach the head coach should do his job yeah sure sure as someone as I think Jose Murenya says that um some some some people like myself who criticize coaches them have never kicked a ball and yeah could be true but then we also go to give an opinion about it because it's our team and we cannot go without pointing out uh some some important issues but Oreg is experienced if you look at his generation he's been one keeper who's been very consistent over the years uh he during his generation you can name Dan Kanoche, Wilson Oburu, I mean a lot of other goalkeepers but none of them match the consistency and the hard work and the talent that Oreg displayed so for me yeah he's been playing and he's a good addition to the team despite all the other issues and Kenya used to be boastful of having potential talents as far as goalkeeping department is concerned during the those days of muamuda buzz of course we didn't happen to watch him but those who got an opportunity to see him between the goalposts say he was heroic and his exploits are well remembered we had you know the likes of Francis Oniso, Matthew Otomax, Victor Onyango you know Noah Yuko who is not doing very well but we hope he will get to the bottom of what is going through I don't know what went wrong um honestly it's it's a really tough question because if you look back there are lots of young keepers who came through the ranks you know even during matasi's time when he was rising at TFC then just something dipped uh there was Mboya or Taska who had one point at Madaeri um I'm just thinking that probably it's an issue with coaching it could be an issue with coaching you know but because there are so many young talented keepers but then just gets to a point you don't see the best of them sure there was a keeper at TFC Lepazun to Taska I think Matin Musale there was even Matin Musale you know there hasn't been consistency a keeper rises for about a season yes then fizzles out so for me it's an issue of uh of coaching um at one point uh the national team had in Salim went to Simba a fairly good coach so I just I just don't know but my my bet is that it's an issue with coaching that we just have not gotten it right uh we'll go keep in coaches but with your standout inclusion in the team maybe someone that caught your attention and very deserving let's leave those people who've been making the team day in day out just at debutant in the team and totally deserving case I think I'd go with what is the first of all the surprise exclusion I still insist is just say where it doesn't go for the national team but I think it's a valuable asset but for me the I think the the defender who went to go and to Juma Roma yes yeah is for me is a top top quality defender who is going to if he plays he can help me with Joshua Joshua Shanyangu I think Roma is a good inclusion but then also it's important to to point out that well there is possibility that Wanyama uh Johanna Omolo and uh Olungama might not be coming in because of the covid protocols in their countries so we must likely I'm not going to see them uh feature in this one but the national team has reported they're trying to do everything in their capacity to ensure that the three fly in but then regardless whether they come in or not I feel we have we have a good team though the biggest question for Kenya will be the experience not many players have been playing it's been about six months and I think missing the three will be a big blow for us to is watching and far away due to other engagement saying good to see Ronan Barry back no matter what the grapevine says it's good that's football in Kenya has got sponsorships great show see you next week good to hear from you man so uh let's now sorry is making us to switch and speak about the sponsorships media and broadcast bill from start times as announced by kf suprimo nick muhenpo for the next seven years now Kenyan football will not be in the dark good move excellent move though some people people still insist nick nick muhenpo runs the federation like his house um but it's it's about time uh because since super spot left a few years back it's about time we went back to to to tv remember this is one of the platforms that markets our players uh so if you're on tv definitely is good exposure good visibility for for for the players number two money will be creeping to the clubs money will creeping into the players pockets hopefully there are structures for that and this is what has been lacking for a very long time and since start times assigned uh i think it's humonga seven year whatever uh one ten million one but for me one ten looks a little tiny uh for because it's national team nsl kpl women's team i don't know it will be subdivided but it's a good move for start that we're back to tv and money will be coming back to to football and coming back to the plus for me that's our excellent move from the federation excellent move as bari says but legitimacy you know kenyan football following as usual raising questions on whether this deal is genuine or otherwise well both you and i and the three of us we really can't tell uh the genuity of the deal but you know it's it's the nature of football in kenya that everything is shrouded in secrecy but for nick it makes good for political mileage at this point particularly i do elections yeah the elections are just uh in the corner though if you look at the money for all the leagues in the national team i'd say it's not sufficient because uh it's not statins or actually airing statins are just broadcasting but then fkf are producing yeah are producing those matches so that so if you look at the cost of production as well then you look at what goes into the team's pockets i'd say it's if you break it down it's mega it's mega yeah it's mega because our production for about 50 at least 50 matches because you have to have an obiwan and i think the production crew and the whole team involved yeah it's it's damn expensive to be honest and at the end of the day i don't think the teams are gonna make much out of it but then something else that also caught my attention is uh uh the the president said that look we are gonna air the matches online uh which is which is a good thing but then you have to pay 200 shillings to watch this i mean uh sorry nick but then just doesn't make any financial sense i mean 200 shillings to watch uh a league that's barely struggled struggling to be a part a part grade league just doesn't make sense i was talking to some promising young man an upcoming footballer william mutuku was currently training with task fc and he was telling me you know the way he talks to his friends and you know the way nick mwendo was telling us about uploading a star times application with which you can watch football and as ronnie puts it for you to do that i think you have to pay around 100 bub 200 bub so his friends who are like come on i can pay 200 bub to watch a kenyan premier league march because for them i think epl is the most lucrative how well would the fkf convince i think football supporters locally that you know it's ripe for them continue having massive following for i think local brand like what ronnie said it's not viable uh remember we are still obsessed with foreign leagues and uh i think to some extent there's a lot of penetration of internet in the country but still affordability is an issue so to tell a random football whatever fun that you're gonna pay 100 or 200 per march which is not quality i don't even there's no sympiosity value for your money it's no value for money and in any case i i still think uh they'll do another approach where they'll probably bringing numbers by probably doing it for free if you get big numbers then you have power to negotiate for bigger sponsorship from other people or from the same people from the same organization so for me it doesn't make any sense i mean to be to be honest if if you look at last season where some marches were being aired on facebook the average audience was 500 people i mean no sensible company would want to advertise to 500 people there are lots of influencers online who command a solid 5000 people per live session you know so to make it was fkf want to bill it and say pay 200 shillings or 100 shillings and that's less cost of debt you know because you need about 500 mbs to stream these marches so yeah it's a question of also how viable are some of these projects they might look very good on the surface i mean very placing and very exciting for the mouth but then at the end of the day the money doesn't trickle down to the people who matter the most and that's the players maybe to add a bit on that i think the the federation should maybe work with the experts like our guy here i do not think in the federation they have a technical capacity to probably understand or you know understand basically how football marketing works our sports marketing as a whole work so if they work to the experts they would break it down to them are they willing in the first place i don't know they'll break it down and tell them this is what works you need to start from somewhere start down going up instead of a it needs to be bottom up not top down approach that's my we've been in this studio with roni and you for you know quite several times and we've been discussing about state of kenyan football and we won't get tired you know talking about is to ensure that you know we get to another level as far as growth and development of the game but you know this game of back and forth it looks like it's musical chairs again between kpl and football kenya federation we've seen jako guda insisting that they are still in charge they are the ones who are mandated to run and manage top tier that is kenyan premium league while fkf is saying they have renamed the top tier to be fkf premium league which will be managed and run by a team that they would be selecting where are we heading man well i'm not uh nick mundos biggest cheerleader but i think jako guda has been there for quite some time at kpl he's had nothing much yeah and really now there isn't much i mean i'm sure the accounts are dry and probably in the in the red at kpl so i i don't see the need of jack continuing insisting that he should uh continue running football uh well give it up to nick yes he has his shortcomings but something has changed there at least two sponsors have come in uh start times and uh bet king who we hear the main dig sponsors and kpl has nothing to show for it you know you just want the league you want the property but then you can't take care of it so i mean it's time to to change to change uh the people who run the league let's give it to a different body i mean kpl's mandate was ending on september the 24th that that period has already lapsed and uh let's see what fkf can now do hopefully uh going by the science they they've at least secured two what i can say crucial sponsorships so let's see how it goes we all know that fkf is you know the overall governing body of football in the country which means the office see all activities pertaining kenyan so can therefore they can do what they wish i don't know are you reading from the same script with the one that i'd say let's give it to fkf this time around to manage and run i said the biggest challenge that or the biggest problem that minister called as i've had with the federation and the president per se is lack of inclusion or lack of stakeholder engagement uh some of these things the biggest stakeholders of the game are the players and the clubs and to a large extent i'm not sure if they were how about the funds and the funds was in there they were fully involved in in in this kind of uh you know um deal but uh yes september 24 the contract ended with the fkf and kpl and nix said they'll take it back yes uh but for me even in um if you look at international practice i don't know if we can still adapt it here it's not traditional that the f is run the top tier leagues what needs to happen is that the f should give uh proper management to a structured well structured organization to run on that behalf i would i would i would expect fkf to say fkf pl we're going to outsource somebody to run it on our behalf we are the overall managers and everything but you run it so that it becomes uh completely professional the the problem with this is that you do not know if fkf can control from the back the management of they can decide you or the chairman of you whatever so for me that was the only problem otherwise them bringing in sponsors is quite a good a good move on the behalf you know ronnie we have many hearts banga he's he's a sports marketer he's sports consultant he's sports bandit and he's also fc lepards now let's talk about you know uh what our local clubs have been doing especially during this time of corona virus pandemic just engaging in training you know fitness levels ahead of you know the 2020 2021 season kickoff we yet to know the dates but just hoping that it will be soon how is your time doing fc lepards you know dan she kinda first of all let's start from you know the aspect of dan she kinda becoming as the chairman i've seen a lot of reforms in place how is it like at the den i mean dan is uh is a serious professional he's played the game and uh he's as a professional he's qualified in his own right and you got to give it up to him he has the passion for the game and you can see there have been there has been changes at the club i mean positive changes less less less rangles and i mean the team seems to be taking some shape of sorts and becoming an fc lepards of of of all if i can put it that way but then yesterday there was some news that were not so good i mean with the news that uh antoniki man is not going to be the head coach anymore my goodness and uh they're bringing in a coach i'm i really can't recall the name but coming in from botswana he's been in botswana before uh his coach i think township rollers before so i mean fans were saying look now you have money and you're trying to get rid of kimani a person who has stood by you yeah in tough times yeah and a really really ambitious young man you know for sure yeah so i mean that's the only question the club has not come out to clarify why uh that's happening but i don't think it's a really good thing because kimani is uh he's he's really working his way up he's one of those young young people who've played the game just like mikella teta and uh they want to take it to the next level so if uh it's it's just because they want to bring in a foreign coach i don't think that's a really good move what's this appetite of kenyan you know football administrators with foreign coaches we know how how how exorbitant it is you know hiring a foreign based coach just coming to coach a kenyan football club or a rugby club we even saw at the kenya rugby union they decided to mucho lipa to is with pol finne and bring on board you know senam kusimi a local based and very proven uh coach so i think what ronnie is saying is very true because i know model kimana at personal level an excellent professional a good hearted man and you know he stood by fc leopards in tough times and i think it was high time they retained him going forward rather than now that they have money okay maybe to start with the ronnie left uh the rumors has is that modo is going for coaching classes to hire his lessons sponsored by the i don't know where sponsored by the club so that this guy comes the guy is a check check national he comes in and temporary whatever those are the strong rumors though i had chairman today refute those claims that as far as he knows modo kimana is still the coach and until in his own words until we post it on our social handles then all those are rumors and and you know now moving to to your your your question of appetite for for foreigners yet we have talent here and it's ironical because sometimes even the foreigners who come someone not as qualified yes and another thing also we don't even have you ever realized that you google the profile of that foreign best coach yeah then you can't see him anywhere you can't yeah and this is why i see his profile this is why i agree with nikumu mendo i once said uh we want every foreigner who's coming to this country their credentials must be up to par they are going to federation is setting up standards standards vet so that i think this is a challenge for our local coaches and the challenge also for the federation they have to continuously train our coaches to be at this level we are in a very competitive space right now in football management and therefore if you can meet let's say ufa b or ufa c i don't think she'll be in the touch line in my view so it's a challenge in my view that uh coaches must always up there again and in federation and clubs must invest in that important resource called coach well i honestly feel that the foreign coaches are well they are they aren't bad uh overly because they bring in some level of experience and professionalism into the league and uh they give the players a different perspective you know like one of the better coaches who's been here zimaria a top top professional in his days and a top coach as well someone of that caliber brings brings in a whole uh different perspective to the league but then it's also a question of uh merging priorities because the league is not as professional as it should be so then the coach comes in and starts working with almost zero resources so at the end of the day you can't expect him to deliver the best that he can or you can't expect him to inject that level of professionalism or change into the club yet the club itself is struggling in basic facilities like training uh even just paying uh the coach himself so yes it's important but then at the end of the day we also go to give young coaches a chance a good example in mikaela teta must not realize it late in the day that instead of wearing unayemri they should have hired a church in the first place to help with the rebuild which is now looking really promising so for me we should have lots of antoniki manis in the league who are growing with the league they are ambitious and within five or so years just like piso mo simane they can also go outside kenya and coach uh they are ali's the zescos the mamelo descendants you know but we just can't have kenyan coaches who are rotating within uh kenyan clubs and at the end of the day we have the same level of skill and expertise being rotated amongst the players and no one has that experience of going to coach outside uh the country so fadili at mani my director is telling me that we take a short break but i think i'm pleading with them we just continue because these are two energetic and muscular duo we can proceed so as an insider gourmet football club what's happening i don't know if they all right i don't let them discuss about that when we come back let's take a short break of course we will back shortly to continue with matters discussion surrounding football and of course at the tail end of the show the fans on when we focus on what's coming up next as far as this premium league is concerned