Musonye urges government to lift ban on sporting activities

Former Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA) Secretary General Nicholas Musonye has broken his silence after coming out to appeal to the government to soften its stance and consider lifting the ban imposed on sporting activities as soon as possible.

Local sportsmen were left stranded on March 25 after President Uhuru Kenyatta ordered them to down their tools as part of his administration's plan to contain the spread of coronavirus.

With various teams preparing for international assignments among them is the Olympics and the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, Musonye who formally left the regional body last year after two decades in office said the prolonged ban would yield poor results at the global scene should status quo remain.

He also noted that sportsmen were feeling the heat of the ban in their pockets as majority would fill their purses from the performance based allowances.

The veteran journalist who acknowledged the threat posed by the virus urged the state to come up with a raft of protocols to be followed to enable the project restart season two.

“We are not denying the fact that coronavirus is real and lethal but the government should consider giving sportsmen the green light to resume. We have major international assignments like the Olympics and the World Cup qualifiers around the corner and with poor preparations, Kenya will be reduced to a punching bag. Most of the sportsmen sourced their livelihoods from the pitch and at the moment they are suffering,” he pleaded.

Musonye who has taken the back seat since withdrawing from the race to unseat Nick Mwendwa as the Football Kenya Federation(FKF) President in September last year reiterated his support to the latter.

Initially, the Musonye was was perceived as one of Mwendwa’s fiercest critics but the veteran administrator says they have since buried the hatchet and will back him until his term elapses.

“Mwendwa was given the mandate by the stakeholders and I have no reason to fight him anymore. The campaigns and elections are over and the focus is taking the game to the next level which requires a conducive environment and support. Before the presidential decree, the league was progressing well and the national team was also doing well ,” he cleared the air.