Football Kenya Federation (FKF) president Hussein Mohammed started his Tuesday briefing to journalists in Nairobi with an admission rarely heard from the local football leadership.
“I want to begin with honesty because honesty is essential to any progress,” said the FKF boss in a measured, forthright tone.
“As a federation, we have not been satisfied by the recent performance of our youth national teams. We acknowledge the gaps, accept responsibility, and we are committed to addressing them. Not through excuses or short-term fixes but deliberate structural actions," he continued.
Hussein was taking responsibility for the poor preparations of the Kenya Under-17 boys football team, as well as the Kenya Under-15 teams, which performed poorly in Cecafa tournaments held recently.
With no time to prepare, a hurriedly-assembled Kenya U-17 boys finished fourth in 2026 Under-17 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) Cecafa qualifiers held in Addis Ababa from November 15 to December 2, missing out on a ticket to the continental showpiece to be held in Morocco.
Equally hastily-assembled were the Kenya Under-15 boys and girls teams which competed in the 2025 Confederation of African Football (CAF) Schools Football Championships in Uganda.
Forced to play their opening match against hosts Uganda just hours after a draining 13-hour road trip, the boys team lost demolished 7-0. Hussein’s admission of responsibility for the teams’ poor performances came two days after he marked one year in office, having been overwhelmingly elected on December 7, 2024.
Extreme Sports CEO Hussein Mohammed speaks during after officially launching his bid to become the next FKF president at Kenya National Theatre in Nairobi on August 28, 2024.
Photo credit: Chris Omollo | Nation Media Group
Under the slogan “Team Fresh”, Hussein pledged to rejuvenate football in the country through infrastructure development, commercialization of the game, establishing a dedicated office and secretariat for the development of women’s football, talent growth and the welfare of footballers among other things.
Reflecting on his one year in office, the businessman and former Murang’a Seal FC vice chairman said despite numerous challenges, his administration has made strides in transforming Kenyan football.
“We inherited a lot of challenges but we are not here to make excuses. We have made great strides in developing football in the county,” he told Nation Sport on Tuesday.
Securing partnerships and sponsors, Kenya’s co-hosting of a successful 2024 African Nations Championship (Chan) with Uganda and Tanzania, and building capacity for referees, including those from marginalised areas, are among the achievements Hussein highlighted in his first year in office.
“The bigger one is that we have survived despite all the challenges that we inherited and that we have kept our heads above water,” he said, thanking President William Ruto and the Ministry of Sports for the support they have extended to the federation.
The FKF-Premier League 10-year sponsorship deal with gaming firm SportPesa, which is worth Sh1.2 billon remains the main sponsorship signed by FKF under Hussein in the past one year.
In the agreement unveiled on July 31, FKF-PL is now referred to as SportPesa League. All the 18 teams are entitled to share 60 per cent of the money equally, while the remaining 40 per cent remains at FKF for logistics and administrative costs. This means the allocation for the 18 clubs is Sh51 million a season while Sh34 million will remain with the federation.
Football Kenya Federation (FKF) President Hussein Mohammed.
Photo credit: Lucy Wanjiru | Nation Media Group
Some club officials have criticised Hussein for not fulfilling his campaign promise of involving teams in the negotiations for agreements, including with SportPesa.
“Before negotiating these contracts, there is need for club to be consulted and also involved in the negotiations. This contract lasts 10 year, and most clubs are struggling but the contract will benefit FKF financially more than clubs,” AFC Leopards chairman Boniface Ambani told Nation Sport in September.
“Several clubs in the league have sponsorship agreements with betting companies that give them way more money in a season than what SportPesa is offering. Kakamega Homeboyz for instance receive Sh20 million per season from MozzartBet,” Kakamega Homeboyz CEO Bernard Shitiabayi said at the time.
Top on Hussein’s key campaign pledges was to return the management of the FKF-PL to a limited company as was the case before. However, on Tuesday, Hussein said this is unlikely to happen anytime soon.
“Some of our sponsors have reiterated that they want the federation to be a little bit more involved in how the league is run and monitored. It is our hope that in the coming years and months that we will find a point of convergence where we will have a professionally run league not only at the top tier but also at the bottom tier,” he said.
Some of the other significant partnerships unveiled by the federation in the past one year include - betting firm betPawa committing Sh4.3million in bonuses through its ‘Locker Room Bonus Initiative’ to the FKF Women’s Cup, a two two-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Royal Moroccan Football Federation and the MOU with Acakoro Football Academy to establish the country’s first fully residential high-performance system for youth team development.
Under the deal with betPawa, which was unveiled on April 29, each match-day winning team saw 23 players and three technical staff get Sh3, 300. The agreement with Royal Moroccan Football was announced on March 9 and among other things enable Kenya Under-20 men to train in Morocco ahead of their participation in the U20 Afcon held in Egypt in April.
It will also provide capacity-building opportunities for Kenyan coaches, technical staff, administrators and FKF officials. Unveiled on Tuesday, FKF’s partnership with Acakoro Football Academy will identify the best players born from 2011 onwards across five regions, with the top performers earning full scholarships to join a comprehensive residential programme at Acakoro’s 25-acre academy in Homa Bay.
Football Kenya President Hussein Mohammed (left) and Vice President McDonald Mariga (centre) display a copy of agreement with Acakoro Football Academy and School Director Lukas Mott in Nairobi on December 9, 2025.
Photo credit: Chris Omollo | Nation Media Group
As part of his commitment to uplift women’s football in the country, Hussein promised that if elected, he would establish a dedicated secretariat for its development.
Providing an update, the FKF boss said: “We now have a fully-fledged desk at the secretariat dedicated to women’s football development. We have empowered the women committees as well. Actually the first six months in office, most of the resources went into women’s football for the women’s senior team and Rising Starlets as well. It surpassed the investment in men’s football in the first six months in office.”
Hussein did not reveal the exact amount of money the federation has pumped into women’s football, saying he doesn’t have the exact numbers at hand.
He reiterated that the federation was burdened by the significant financial debts inherited from the previous office.
Football Kenya Federation (FKF) President Hussein Mohamed addresses the national Girls Under 17 players at Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani in Nairobi on April 22, 2025.
Photo credit: Chris Omollo | Nation Media Group
A preliminary report of a forensic audit of the working of the federation released in April revealed that the previous regime left behind a huge debt of over Sh383 million, inexplicably operated 16 bank accounts and was involved in 21 legal cases linked to election disputes, unpaid legal fees, and contractual matters.
And speaking during the ninth FKF Congress held on May 31, Hussein said the federation is navigating over Sh600 million debt which has placed pressure on our ability to deliver on key programmers.
While Hussein promised to make the full report public, he has yet to do so even after 10 months. He pointed Wajir and Marsabit as some of the marginalised areas where the federation has conducted the referees’ Physical endurance test, promising to roll the programme in other areas.
Combating match fixing which was another key promise by “Team Fresh” Hussein said they are pushing for legislation to criminalise the vice. Apart from training referees and sensitizing players, he said they had met with the Directorate of Criminal Investigation to discuss ways of collaborating to fight the vice.
New Harambee Stars coach Benni McCarthy displays his contract alongside FKF president Hussein Mohammed during his unveiling in Nairobi on March 3, 2025.
Photo credit: Chris Omollo | Nation Media Group
Other achievements by the federation are appointment South African football legend Benni McCarthy as the new Harambee Stars coach alongside his compatriots Vasili Manousakis (assistant coach), Moeneeb Josephs (goalkeeper coach), and Pilela Maposa (performance analyst), running the leagues and having national teams take part in various tournaments including friendlies.
Although the appointment of McCarthy was welcomed by many Kenyans, who view him as an upgrade of former Turkish coach Engin Firat, it has raised transparency queries after FKF failed to reveal his monthly salary alongside his three, backroom staff. FKF has refuted claims that McCarthy alone earns Sh8 million per month but has yet to reveal his actual earnings and those of his staff.
“We acknowledge that we have not gotten everything right and as we move forward. It is to learn from the mistakes we have made and make sure we don’t repeat them. 2026 in the year of action, I think now one year in office, we learnt the ropes, we saw the challenges, we appreciate the gains but also recognise teh shortcomings,” said Hussein.
Grassroots and women’s football development and securing more partnerships, he said are some of the key areas for the federation next year.
