NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 28 – The Kenya Rugby Union (KRU) top brass have agreed they are to blame for the recent woes plaguing the national teams, including the men and women’s sevens team as well as the 15s side.
KRU chair Oduor Gangla conceded that they have fallen short in their responsibility of ensuring players’ welfare is enhanced so that they can train and complete effectively.
“We’ve been trending quite a bit over the last few days due to failures of the Kenya Rugby Union, of which I as well as members of my team take full responsibility for. As a union, we are responsible for management of national teams. In the past few weeks, we have fallen short of the expectations of us as the board to ensure that all the teams are well facilitated so that they bring honour and pride to our country,” Gangla said.
The chair further acknowledged that players of the national teams (Shujaa, Simbas and Lionesses) have not been given due credit for the hard work they put in bringing glory to the country through heroic performances at the international platform.
“From the bottom of my heart, I am sincerely sorry to the players. We have let them down…we have let the country down and we have let our stakeholders down. I wish it would have been better…this is our mess and part of cleaning it up is to own it,” he said.
The union were in the crosshairs of many Kenyans on social media who were infuriated by revelations that the national men’s sevens side were in danger of missing out on this week’s Dubai Sevens and had gone three months without payment.
The national women’s sevens team were also in danger of missing out on Dubai due to failure to secure visas in addition to going five months without pay.
The latest turn of events came almost a week after the national men’s 15s side reportedly downed their tools due to non-payment of allowances, before their final Rugby World Cup qualifier match against Hong Kong in Dubai.
What next?
Following the intervention of the government, Shujaa were able to depart for Dubai on Sunday night although Gangla revealed that the players are still owed some arrears.
The Lionesses are also expected to fly out later in the week.
Nonetheless, the elephant in the room remains the lack of sponsorship for many of the union’s activities.
Gangla admitted the absence of corporate partners has created a huge dent in KRU’s pockets with players bearing the brunt of the dried up money streams.
“It has been a tough moment for many federations post-covid. I think if you follow rugby then you will see that in the UK, there are even teams that are folding up. The new realities of what has happened has made it difficult for everyone to adjust,” he said.
The chair added: “The reality is this year has been a different year not just because of the General Election but remember we had an extended season…with the tournament in LA (Los Angeles) and the World Cup qualifiers. So the reality is we were really stretched with a limited pot of funds.”
Going forward, Gangla said the union will go back to the drawing board to reevaluate their activities and downsize on the unnecessary ones.
“We also have to look at the prioritisation of all activities because then again you really have to cut your coat accordingly. We have really tried to keep all the activities going but that has been at the expense of the players, which is not really fair. We will have a hard re-look at our activities so that we do things properly rather than spread ourselves too thin,” he explained.
Regarding corporate partnerships, the union plans a long-term strategy to develop mutually beneficial and permanent connections with the corporate world by packaging the sport as a valuable product.
Ababu’s word
Commenting on the recent debacles, Sports Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba admitted KRU have a long way to go to make it up to the players.
He similarly apologised to the players for the tribulations experienced and promised to work round the clock to ensure all their grievances are addressed.
“I have had a very candid meeting with the union. I have read the riot act to them. It is good that you (media) have asked them to apologise to the players because they have not treated the players well. They (KRU) owe them more than an apology….they have to make it up to the players,” Namwamba said.
He assured of the government’s support to enable the union secure sponsorship from various sources.
“One question I have posed to the union is why rugby is struggling to secure sponsorship. It is such a premium brand and should not be struggling to get sponsors. We will help them get sponsors and one of the things we will do is to convene a sponsors’ roundtable, which I will host,” Namwamba revealed.
The two were speaking at the Kenya National Library after a day-long crisis meeting between the CS and KRU officials at his office.
Shujaa are expected to receive their allowances before they take to the pitch for their first match on Friday.
