Gor Mahia are gunning for a record 14th Kenyan Premier League title in what could be the last edition of the tournament in its current form. If the Nairobi-based outfit are victorious on Saturday, they will edge ahead of their city rivals AFC Leopards, with whom they share the current tally of 13 titles. And the final-day fixtures will have Gor Mahia fancying their chances of exactly that.
Although there is only a point separating Gor Mahia from second-place Sofapaka, the log-leaders face KRA, who are in 12th position, while Sofapaka take on Tuskers, who sit third.
In mid-table, there are also ample tussles to keep things interesting. The teams who sit between sixth and 11th position are separated by just two points and will be in a race for a top-eight finish. At the bottom, City Stars and KCB are in a relegation battle after Top Fry's relegation to the first division was confirmed.
All three bottom-feeders would have been heartened by the news that the Kenyan FA's national executive committee have approved a proposal to expand the league to 18 teams from next season. The motion still has to be approved by the Kenyan Premier League and accepted by sponsors, but if it comes to pass, it will create more opportunities for teams to compete in the top flight.
It is a concept which was mooted three years ago by current FA chair Sam Nyamweya's rival Hussein Mohamed, but rejected for being too ambitious. In October 2011, part of Mohamed's campaign revolved around how he would increase the league to 18 teams, but CEO Jack Oguda wanted to focus on quality, not quantity.
"If you ask me that is not the priority. Currently many teams are struggling and so the focus should be on helping the teams build their capacity. We need more money injected into the league and also develop talent at the grassroots," Oguda said at the time.
Mohamed lost out to Nyamweya in the elections which followed and talk of expansion was shelved until now when Nyamweya has shifted the focus back to quantity. "Our proposal to increase number of teams to 18 is informed by need to encourage as many teams as possible to be able to earn promotion," he told Goal.com.
Oguda has so far been silent on the issue apart from a cryptic introduction to his statement on the Premier League as it reaches its climax: "All through the history of sports and in particular the Olympics Movement emphasis has always been in the adage 'It's more important to participate than to win.' How true this has been, more so during the amateur era of sports ... But with the advent of professionalism in sports a lot more is now at stake than just participating. Small wonder athletes now embrace the maxim: 'Winning is not everything; it is the only thing.'"
That may be a hint that he expects a better standard of results from Kenyan football before he will support growth, which is understandable considering the state of his country's game. Between 2011 and present day, not much has changed in Kenyan football's bigger picture. Their ranking has marginally improved from 120th in 2011 to 116th now but they did not qualify for the 2012, 2013 or 2015 African Nations' Cup.
Perhaps the most noteworthy thing has been the rise of Victor Wanyama, who went from scoring a goal for Celtic against Barcelona to Southampton of the Premier League. Wanyama's career began at Nairobi City Stars, one of the clubs currently fighting relegation and went on to AFC Leopards before he moved overseas.
That he went from one of Kenya's smaller clubs to a bigger one and ultimately abroad will not seem too surprising. It is a pathway hundreds of other footballers have trodden. That the small clubs remain small and the big ones get bigger is also a common global football narrative, but it is one that serves as cautionary tale against expansion in the hope of increasing quality. Making the league bigger may just allow for bigger quantity, but the title will still only be fought over by a select few, which Gor Mahia will not be too unhappy about.
This forum needs some diversification rather than being exclusive to European football.
