Kenya or well known as the pride of Africa, is among the African nations that are famous globally due to having a very impressive talent when it comes to athletics. It is the giant of Africa in athletics, and names such as Kipchoge Keino, Catherine Ndereba, Eliud Kipchoge, Hellen Obiri, Ferdinand Omanyala, Mora and many more others have participated in international competitions, and emerged victorious.
Despite having a very good standing in athletics, Kenyan is performing very poor in football, there is even a time that Fifa banned them from performing in any competition that is governed by them.
There are some footballers, such as Victor Wanyama who played for Tottenham, Macdonald Mariga, Dennis Oliech, and Michael Olunga who really did their best to raise Kenyan flag intenationally when it comes to football, but that is still not enough to outdo the excellent performance the athletes present.There are several reasons why Kenya is performing poorly in football and excelling in athletics.
- Cultural Factors.
It is very crucial to be aware that most culture in Kenya greatly value long distance running. It is usually seen as a way of honoring the traditions, especially in tribes such as Kalenjing. This is actually the tribe in Kenya that has many atheletes. They greatly emphasis on running, and this has led to the rise of very amazing talent. The supportive environment is very crucial for their success, unlike football, which has to compete with other popular sports suchs as volleyball , table tennis and rugby for both the resources and attention.
2.Investment and Infrastructure
Kenya is termed as a third world country, however when it comes to the training facilities of athletics, it has some of the worldclass facilities, to an extend some of international athletes come to train in the country. The investment is done by both the public and private sectors. Places like Iten that have high altitude training grounds, are the source of the success the athletes enjoy in international competitions. On the other hand football in Kenya really struggle when it comes to infrastructure. The stadiums are few and poor, and this greatly lead to challenges in shaping the talents of players and also coaching becomes difficult.
- Government Support
When you observe keenly, in Kenya the government only supports excelling sports, For this reason, the field of athletics, has received very significant support from the government, and most importantly recognizing it as the pride of the whole nation. This support include; enough funding, executive camps , and also launching talent development programs. The president also awards top athletes who break world records, by giving them Ksh. 5 Million and a house. However when it comes to football, the support given is very little, infact there are a lot of corruption cases linked to federation, and it this case the field of football is just messy and controversial.
When comparing these two it is also important to include the salaries that athletes receive and footballers receive. The Kenya premier league pays its footballers pporly, and no a player makes upto ksh. 500,000 per month unlike the other international leagues. Most players earn between ksh. 10,000 to 50,000 per month. This salary cannot motivate them to excel or give an outstanding performance in the pitch. When it come to athletics, they are usually assured of participating in international competitions, and when the athletes jet back in the country, their bank accounts already has millions of money.
Those are the three key reasons why Kenya is excelling in athletics and failing terribly in football. The Kenya national team has never qualified for world cup. The furthest it has reached is the group stages of the African Cup of Nations.
