City Stars coach Alagic: It will be impossible to finish the league

Nairobi City Stars head coach Sanjin Alagić has expressed his concerns on the possibility of finishing the Football Kenya Federation Premier League (FKFPL) after the government suspended all sporting activities in the country.

President Uhuru Kenyatta announced a halt on all sporting activities for an unspecified duration on Friday 26 March that affected all football leagues in the country. 

Speaking to Mozzart Sport, Alagić explained that the fixture list will be compacted should the season return with the league initially earmarked to conclude in July. 

“Big blow for my opinion, I think it will be almost impossible for FKF to organize and finish this season in time. The season was planned to finish at the end of July and that's already time to start with the new season 2021/2022. Now it will go even longer. I believe it will have a huge negative impact on all sports in Kenya.”

“Even if we make individual programs for players, if the Championship doesn't start in the next 21 days, players will lose most of their physical capabilities. Expect things like what happened before, you'll see a lot of injured players, especially when you start to play every three days one match,” said Sanjin.

The league was halted after most of the teams had played 16 matches meaning that the league was a game away from getting to the halfway mark. 

FKFPL started towards the end of November almost three months after the scheduled kick-off date forcing clubs to sometimes play twice in a week to align themselves with the Confederation of African Football (CAF) August to May football season calendar.

The Bosnian tactician however believes that the government should have imposed stricter measures rather than suspending sports in the county as was the case in Europe. 

“In Europe even they put strictly some new measures because rising or Covid-19, sport and football continue normal, of course without fans, but 22 players plus coaching staff and referees can't make some negative influence on Covid cases.”

“I believe it will be wise to continue with the league, even if that means that the Government and FKF put more strict measures and not allow no one except officials for the match to enter the stadium. After last year when we didn't finish League because Covid, it will be crucial that this season finishes on time and regularly, with all teams playing all matches,” added Alagić. 

City Stars were sitting 10th on the log with 20 points from 16 games and were fresh from holding log leaders Tusker FC to a 1-1 draw.