Football authorities blunder knocks Kenya out of the Africa Champions League

Pressure is mounting for the Fifa-backed Kenya Football Federation ( KFF ) officials to quit following a CAF ban on Kenya clubs.

Tusker’s Champions League tie against Eritrea’s Al Tahrir in Nairobi was called off at the last minute as word filtered through that a CAF ban was in force after KFF failed to pay the participation fee.

Former international players have come out demanding the resignation of the KFF office. Celebrated goalkeeper Mohammoud Abbas described KFF officials as a disgrace to football.

"They are liars and their lies have cost the country, players and fans a great deal," Abbas said. "KFF needs to be overhauled and as it is now all clear Sammy Obingo and company are incapable of anything," he said.

Another retired player, Dennis Munyendo, expressed his disappointment, saying Kenya has been held hostage by a "football mafia" for political reasons.

"We need a conference that could bring in the Government to sort out the mess in football," Munyendo said. "For some reason, we have a bunch of people at the federation who Government appears to be unable to do anything about to save the country," he said.

Former Breweries (now Tusker) and Harambee Stars midfielder, Douglas Mutua, wondered what was the officials’ use at the federation if they could not pay CAF Sh455,000.( US $ 6500)

"Tusker spent SH4million to prepare for the match yet KFF could not raise half a million. They should just leave so that we could institute a process to bring in people who can do the right job," Mutua said.

At a separate function, the chairman of a faction of KFF recognised by the Registrar of Societies, Sam Nyamweya, said the Fifa-backed officials were an embarrassment to the country.

"We are leaving a lie that we can have the backing of Fifa and forget the Government. It won’t work. We cannot pretend that all is well and unless we act now we can as well forget about the 2010 World Cup," Nyamweya said.

This episode with Tusker probably reinforces the reason why the KFF is referred to in some quarters as the Kenya Football Farce