Football fans in Busia are appealing to FKF to train and conduct refresher courses for club officials and referees officiating festive tournaments to boost the standards of soccer in the county.
Speaking at Butula Polytechnic during Engineer Kwena’s tournament, Christian Nyongesa, who was the tournament manager, urged FKF to prioritise grassroots training for referees and coaches to mitigate errors and ensure football rules and standards are adhered to.
Nyongesa challenged coaches to adhere to FIFA rules as a way of moulding future accomplished sportsmen who can cope with any governing rules.
“During these festive tournaments, we witness a significant number of errors from both coaches and referees, which result from a lack of awareness of football rules; hence, our appeal to FKF to retrain officials,” said Nyongesa.
The Eng. Kwena tournament attracted 27 teams from Butula Sub-county, comprising 8 girls teams and 19 men’s teams.
Bumala B FC were crowned men’s champions after edging out Simuli Youths FC 1-0 in an entertaining final which pulled a crowd of fans.
A solo goal from Bonface Odour in the 35th minute was enough to assure Bumala B victory, as they displayed tactical discipline at their defensive line.
In the women’s categories, Butula Starlet thrashed Bumutiru Queens 1-0 to continue with their unbeaten record in the tournament.
Engineer Kwena appealed to the County Government of Busia to work on football infrastructure and make the necessary budgetary allocations to clubs participating at the level of the county league and beyond.
“It is time the county government begins to appreciate talents by setting up modern sports infrastructures which will expose our sportsmen and women, thus nurturing their talents,” noted Eng. Kwena.
He acknowledged the fact that Busia was home for football, having produced various legends and many rising stars originating from the county.
“Busia County, having emerged as Talanta Hela champions, speaks volumes about the potential of talents in the county,” Kwena added.
The Butula select team will have an opportunity to play against premier league club Kakamega Homeboiz and Division 2 team Mayenje Santos before January 8th.
By Absalom Namwalo
