mutuamaundu: HOOLIGANISM IN OUR FOOTBALL STADIA MUST END!

mutuamaundu: HOOLIGANISM IN OUR FOOTBALL STADIA MUST END!: The ugly face in the Kenyan football reared its ugly head once again, last weekend in a league match pitting table toppers Gor Mahia ag...

HOOLIGANISM IN OUR FOOTBALL STADIA MUST END!

The ugly face in the Kenyan football reared its ugly head once again, last weekend in a league match pitting table toppers Gor Mahia against their bogey team, Nairobi City Stars. The game ended in a barren draw and a section of the Gor Mahia faithful decided to vent their anger in a manner that falls short of sporting civility. About 600 seats, lighting boxes and flower beds were victims of the latest act of hooliganism in Kenyan soccer.  A stadium that had just been fitted with world-class sporting facilities has once again been vandalized. But for how long will football hooliganism go unpunished in the Kenyan soccer?

The Ksh 2.1 million fine slapped on Gor Mahia may not be deterrent enough. A hefty and severe penalty is urgently needed in order to contain this. What if the club is forced to play some of its matches behind closed doors besides the monetary fine? What if the club loses some points in the standings? My footballing crystal ball tells me that these form of fines are what will scare away these hooligans besides attracting more responsibility from the clubs concerned In the world of football, fans are a responsibility of their club. Just as the moral support that clubs get from their fans, then in the same manner, the punishment should be whenever these fans flout sporting rules and resort to hooliganism and acts of sporting incivility.

In Kenya, Gor Mahia and their arch-rivals, AFC Leopards enjoy the greatest following, never mind that this is yet to translate to football success in recent years. The teams enjoy huge gate collections, unrivalled moral support and a near-fanatical following. Sadly to say the two are the key culprits of this football hooliganism as their fans have occasionally caused trouble during matches. Displeasure at refereeing decisions, defeats and even draws in key matches have led to fan trouble from this set of fans. But as a section of Gor Mahia’s fans persist in violence, we must give thumbs up to their mashemejis from the Ing’we den who have upheld peace in recent times.

Violence in our football stadia should be decisively dealt with even if it means severely punishing a club in a manner that will undoubtedly scare away potential trouble-stirrers from our football matches.  The Kenya Premier League (KPL) and the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) should come out and decisively put deal with football hooliganism before we learn a painful lesson in the form of Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA) or deaths in our stadia. Worse still, violence in our stadia can scare away potential investors and sponsors of the beautiful game. All this can spell doom to our football prospects and potential Mugubi’s, Mariga’s and Oliech’s may never live their dream.

Let us not test the depth of the waters with our feet. It can be disastrous.