Polack: Players should still be training

Gor Mahia coach Steve Polack has said that due to the uncertainty surrounding the fate of the 2019-2020 Kenya Premier League, he has told his players to continue training on their own

Additional reporting from the Nation

Gor Mahia coach Steven Polack has said the club is not celebrating winning the Kenyan Premier League just yet, saying the war of words between Football Kenya Federation (FKF) and the Kenya Premier League Limited was not good for football.

On April 30, FKF President Nick Mwendwa announced that the Kenyan Premier League would come to a premature conclusion, prompting protests from the league body. The football administrator also declared reigning champions Gor Mahia winners of the current season.

Polack on Friday said the club was waiting final decision on the league from the league body which is legally mandated to run the 18-team competition.

KPL’s five-year tenure as the league running body ends on September 24 when FKF is expected to take over.

On Thursday, KPL also wrote to Confederation of African Football (Caf) regarding FKF’s decision to declare Gor champions, and the decision to terminate the season with 10 matches to go. The league games were postponed in early March due to coronavirus pandemic which has so far claimed 29 lives in the country.

Polack has said he would love to win his first KPL title with Gor since he joined in September last year on the pitch rather than through boardroom declarations.

KPL chairman Ambrose Rachier, who is also the club’s chairman, has refused to comment on the matter due to conflict of interest.

“I have instructed my players to continue with the individual training schedule I gave them because to me, the league is not yet over. Even though people are telling me to be happy for bagging my first league title, I can’t with all these controversies,” he said.

“I will be happy after KPL has decided the issue and after a communication from Caf. I believe in wining on the pitch and I can authoritatively say we are not champions just yet,” he added.

“I don’t want to be part of FKF and KPL politics but I read the letter and it was seeking an opinion and a roadmap on how the league will end amid coronavirus pandemic,” Polack said of KPL’s