- Kenya Footballers Welfare Association (KEFWA) disclosed plans to request for financial aid from Fifpro to compensate the players who were affected by club disbandment.
Thika United, Palos and Sony Sugar players who have been facing a financial crisis since their employers ceased responsibility following unpredicted circumstances may finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Kefwa Secretary-General Jerry Santo confirmed that the matter is in their hands and they are following up on the Netherlands body, Fifpro, to compensate the players.
The Thika FC tale of woes started in 2018 when they were relegated from Kenyan Premier League after finishing last in the 18-team league and consequently lost their shirt sponsor Brookside Dairy.
Palos faced a crisis and as their financial well dried, they finally withdrew from the National Super League in November 2017 and subsequently released all their players despite having contracts.
Sony Sugar, the renowned KPL 2006 champions, also suffered financial woes to the extend of not affording transportation to appear on matches. There was a lack of motivation for players and they were kicked out of the competition during the first leg of last season the club was consequently disbanded.
Santo expressed his concerns for players who lost their sole source of income and have never received compensation since they had running contracts.
“There are players who had running contracts with these clubs but were not paid after their disbandment. It is not their fault that the clubs went under neither can we put those clubs on their backs to have them pay the players who had existing contracts, “said Santo.
“Fifpro established a fund to assist players who were affected by the disbandment of their clubs while their contracts were running. We may miss the first batch which is set to be disbursed soon but I believe after presenting information and applying for funds the players will benefit.” He explained.
“We will go through the records and establish which player had a contract and was affected by the dissolution and present the data to Fifpro. The aid may take two to three months to reflect in our accounts once we have successfully applied,” added the Secretary-General.
