AFC Leopards Chairman Dan Shikanda has called for urgent measures to safeguard young football talent in Western Kenya, citing cases where players from the region are being registered under Nairobi-based clubs without their original teams benefiting from future transfers.
Speaking during the official launch of the Kakamega County League, Shikanda, who also serves as the FKF Nairobi Region NEC member, emphasized the need for club owners to take responsibility for properly registering their players.
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“Anyone dealing with youth players, kindly register them in the system under your name,” he urged. “It has become quite shocking that when you get to know of a talented player in Western and go to scout, you’ll find out that the player has already been registered under Kariobangi Sharks or another team in Nairobi.”
Shikanda lamented that clubs in Western Kenya invest in nurturing players, only to miss out on financial benefits when those players make high-profile moves. He pointed to past cases, including Victor Wanyama’s transfer to Tottenham Hotspur, where other teams profited at the expense of those that had developed the talent.
“We’ve seen it happen before when Wanyama joined Tottenham, you’d be surprised at the teams that benefited financially from that transfer. The same has happened with 10 to 12 players now in Europe, yet the clubs that nurtured them received nothing,” he said.
He called on the new Football Kenya Federation (FKF) leadership to address the issue and ensure fairness in player transfers. Shikanda stressed that Western Kenya should retain control of its football talent and benefit financially from their success.
“We must protect Western Province and its talent. It is far better for the Ksh 20 or 30 million from transfers to benefit a local club rather than going to Nairobi-based teams and eventually into individuals’ pockets,” Shikanda stated.
Shikanda’s remarks come at a time where several concerns have been raised by local-based talent nurturing centres who have been feeling exploited having nurtured several youngsters but get short-changed when moves to go abroad materialize.
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