FKF president Hussein Mohammed and his vice president McDonald Mariga

FKF vice president McDonald Mariga has opened about rumours that he has been sidelined within the federation.

Football Kenya Federation (FKF) vice president McDonald Mariga has reacted to claims that he has been sidelined within the country’s football governing body.

Mariga is the second in command at FKF, having been elected as deputy to federation president Hussein Mohammed last December, but there were claims last month that the Harambee Stars legend is now a lone ranger.

At the time, Mariga, who lost his mother in June, had not been seen in public alongside Mohammed as it had been before, and speculation swirled around that he was not seeing eye-to-eye with his boss with others even claiming that his position had been taken over by a co-opted FKF National Executive Committee member.

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However, since the start of the 2024 African Nations Championships (CHAN 2024), Mariga has been a prominent figure in camp, accompanying the players to training and to and from matches and he insists the speculation did not come at the right time.

“Politics is not very important now, we want to concentrate on CHAN. Let us focus on this CHAN then we will talk about that later,” Mariga told Pulse Sports.

“Let us push our boys and technical bench because we have just two steps before we win this. So, we should focus and the fans should come out in large numbers,” added the former Inter Milan midfielder ahead of Kenya’s CHAN 2024 quarter-final against Madagascar on Friday.

Pressed on whether there are issues behind the scene at FKF, Mariga maintained that all is well, allaying fears of a division within the federation’s top brass.

“I am here, you have even seen me in camp. I am with the team, all the training sessions I am there. I had missed some because I lost my mother but now, I am there full time to support these boys,” he added.

Mariga’s sentiments echo those of his boss Mohammed who said the rumours were baseless and aimed at destabilising his team.

“Kindly disregard misinformation circulating on social media. FKF is an institution guided by its constitution, which we strictly adhere to. Our focus remains on delivering a successful CHAN 2024 and raising the standards of Kenyan football,” Hussein posted on social media in July.

Rumours of Mariga’s ouster became widespread even though there are strictly laid down rules regarding the removal of an elected official.

According to the FKF Constitution, Article 41 states that the dismissal of an official must be proposed either by the National Executive Committee or at least one-third of FKF members, followed by a vote requiring a two-thirds majority, which is yet to happen so far at the federation.