Exclusive: Sofapaka Owner Elly Kalekwa Unshaken despite Poor FKF Premier League Start
Sofapaka owner Elly Kalekwa remains confident despite a poor start in the FKF Premier League. Missing key signings, Kalekwa believes the team will turn things around once new players are cleared.
Image Credit: People Daily
Sofapaka President Elly Kalekwa is confident the club will not be sucked into relegation battle in the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Premier League this season.
After miraculously surviving the axe last season to extend their 16 years stay in the top-flight, Batoto ba Mungu have started the current campaign on a disastrous note, losing their opening two matches.
Despite hiring the services of former Tusker coach and four-time Premier League winner Robert Matano, Sofapaka lost their season opener 1-0 against Tusker on August 24 before suffering a similar defeat against FC Talanta on September 14.
Though it remains early to predict the outcome of the season, Batoto ba Mungu have already found themselves languishing at the bottom of the 18-team table without a point from two matches.
Apart from Sofapaka, the other teams yet to earn a point include reigning champions Gor Mahia and domestic Cup winners Kenya Police following their involvement in the CAF Champions League and Confederation Cup respectively.
K’Ogalo and the law enforcers had their matches shelved so they could play in the inter-club competitions while Ulinzi Stars lost their opener 1-0 against Murang’a Seal but have not played their matchday two fixture.
Sofapaka's Poor Start Due to Missing Five New Signings
Last season, Sofapaka started the same way, losing their first five matches and finally dropped into the relegation zone where they fought for their lives until the final day of the campaign when they survived by a whisker.
They had to play against National Super League (NSL) side Naivas FC in a two-legged FKF/NSL relegation/promotion playoff fixture to keep their status in the league. Sofapaka won the playoff 2-0 on aggregate, after winning both legs with a 1-0 scoreline.
“We are very safe, we don’t have to panic, the problem is that the first two matches, I cannot consider the outcome, remember it is games we have been forced to play without most of our new players, we have a good team and we don’t need to panic,” Kalekwa told SportsBoom.com.
“We have signed a number of new players, we have five foreign players who are yet to be cleared to play, it is the reason the results are not pleasing, the five are very important, so we are waiting for their clearance, and everything will be okay.”
Asked why the foreign players have not been cleared, Kalekwa said: “We already have the foreign players training with us, but the problem is they don’t have their FIFA Transfer Matching System (TMS) ready, it is what is holding us to use them (players), you cannot use them in any competitive match until the problem is sorted out.”
The good part is that FKF have followed up with world governing body FIFA to know the reason for delay, so we are hoping everything the transfer issue will be sorted as quickly as possible so that we can start playing the way we want and win matches.
Elly Kalekwa
Pressed further to reveal the names of the new signings, Kalekwa said: “No, you will see them, just wait, immediately we get the TMS for each player, you will see them in action. They are good quality players, who will help the team, we don’t want to see the scenario of last season (fighting relegation) resurface again, after surviving I vowed never to see Sofapaka in that position and that is what we will do, we will not fight against relegation, that one I can assure our fans.”
According to the final list of FKF Premier League transfers for the 18 teams in the top-flight released by Football Kenya Federation (FKF) on September 9 when the window closed, Sofapaka announced names of players, who had left the club for greener pastures but never listed any new signings.
The nine players released include former Sony Sugar and Bandari FC striker Amos Asembeka, who signed for Posta Rangers, Jacob, Onyango, who moved to Tusker, Derrick Ngoobi to Express FC of Uganda, Andrew Kalama to Nairobi City Stars, Nixon Omondi, Simon Munala, Stephen Okola, Moussa Omar and Fiston Abdoul Razak.
Sofapaka Were Clearly Robbed Against FC Talanta
Sofapaka Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ronald Okoth is adamant poor officiating denied his side a point from their matchday two fixture against FC Talanta.
The two sides faced off at Machakos Stadium, on Sunday, September 14, and after a first half missed penalty, Talanta were awarded another penalty in added minutes of the stoppages with Alex Juma converting for the 1-0 win.
“We did not deserve to lose against Talanta, it is true we lost the game unfairly due to a last-minute penalty awarded to Talanta,” Okoth, who played for a host of clubs in Kenya including Western Stima and Gor Mahia told SportsBoom.com.
“It was not a penalty, I don’t understand what the referee was thinking, and why he gave it. The game was very balanced until that penalty decision, we shouldn’t have lost, we deserved something from the game, it was a poor decision from the match officials, and we hope they learn and avoid such mistakes in the future.”
“We talked to the players (about the penalty incident immediately after the game) and urged them to forget about what had happened, we want them to focus on the next match, we need to start winning our matches and they must stay focused to deliver.”
Sofapaka’s next five matches will see them start with an away game against Mathare United on Saturday, September 21, return home to host Bandari on September 29, face Nairobi City Stars on October 19, take on Shabana on October 23 and confront Kenya Police on October 27.
Dennis is a seasoned journalist in Kenya with over 18 years of experience. Having started his career at Kenya Times Newspaper, Dennis worked for Standard Newspaper for nearly six years as a Sports Writer. At Standard, he was privileged to cover Kenya's national team Harambee Stars outside the country, the biggest of all being the Four Nations tournament in Cairo, Egypt. He also covered the U17 team in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.