Something about the FKF Mozzart Bet Cup draw done yesterday continues to feel unsettling. The competition was launched with renewed optimism, backed by a three-year sponsorship agreement worth Ksh 90 million, translating to Ksh 30 million annually to organise and run the tournament. The incentives are clear, the continental pathway well defined, yet the choices made by some Premier League clubs raise uncomfortable questions about how this competition is valued at the top.
The Round of 64 draw once again highlighted the very essence of the national cup. 64 teams from across all divisions were thrown together, creating matchups that strip football down to its purest form. Dero FC, a Division Two side from deep in Asembo, Rarieda, were drawn against Gor Mahia, a club many within Dero openly admire. For Siaya, the fixture is not just a game but a rare moment of recognition, a chance for a small community to host one of Kenya’s most decorated clubs. This is the romance of knockout football, where geography, status and resources briefly disappear.
Yet even as those dreams took shape, 3 Kenya Premier League clubs/ Sportpesa League clubs were absent from the competition: Sofapaka, Mathare United and APS Bomet. Their absence is troubling, not simply because they are top-flight sides, but because two of them are deeply woven into the history of this tournament.
Mathare United’s 1998 triumph remains one of Kenyan football’s most cherished stories. A lower-division club stunned the nation by lifting the Moi Golden Cup, beating Eldoret KCC 2–1 at Kasarani Stadium in a final attended by the then President Late President Moi. Across the country, fans followed the drama through KBC Radio, where Veteran commentator Kaka Jos’ radio commentary carried the nation through that final, as Athman Ngaywa struck early before initiating the move that led to the second goal. That victory earned Mathare a place on the continental stage and changed the club’s trajectory forever.
Nearly a decade later, Sofapaka followed that same unlikely path. In 2007, Batoto ba Mungu became the second club after Mathare United to win the national cup while competing in the second tier, then known as the Nationwide League . Playing in a competition that had just been rebranded from the Moi Golden Cup to the President’s Cup, Sofapaka defeated Homegrown FC 2–0 at Nyayo National Stadium to announce themselves on the national stage. That victory was not a fluke; it was the foundation upon which the club later built a Premier League title-winning identity just 2 years later.
Sofapaka’s relationship with the cup did not end there. Over the years, the competition has undergone multiple rebrandings, reflecting shifts in sponsorship and national administration. From the Moi Golden Cup, to the President’s Cup in 2007, to Transparency Cup , KFF cup, FKL Cup in 2010 which Sofapaka won to the GOtv Shield , which Sofapaka lifted again in 2014, Sportpesa Shield in 2018 and 2019,Betway Cup and now the Mozzart Bet Cup, Batoto ba Mungu have remained one of the tournament’s most successful sides. They are 3-time winners of the FKF Cup in its various identities, a club that understands better than most what this competition can offer.
That history is what makes their absence today so difficult to reconcile.
The Mozzart Bet Cup provides a direct route to the CAF Confederation Cup, a rare opportunity in a league where finishing positions often make continental qualification unattainable for clubs in the bottom half of the table. The path is straightforward but unforgiving. From the Round of 64 to the final, a club must navigate a series of single elimination matches where one mistake can end the journey. 4 matches take you into Money bracket , 6 take you to continental football. Risky, yes but also realistic.
For clubs struggling in the league, the temptation to focus solely on survival is understandable. Travel costs, logistics, player welfare and the fear of early elimination all factor into decision-making. But football history, especially Kenyan football history, has never favoured caution alone.
Last season, Nairobi United reminded everyone of that truth. A National Super League side went all the way, lifting the trophy and rewriting assumptions about hierarchy and ambition. Their run was a modern echo of what Mathare United achieved in 1998 and what Sofapaka did in 2007 proof that the cup remains a powerful equaliser.
That 15 other Premier League clubs registered for the competition while three opted out raises a deeper question. What do those clubs see that Sofapaka, Mathare United and APS Bomet do not? Has the tournament failed to sell its value to certain teams, or have some clubs simply lost faith in the idea that the cup can still transform their fortunes?
Globally, domestic cups are protected fiercely. In England, participation in the FA Cup is compulsory for eligible professional clubs. Teams may rotate squads, but opting out is not an option, because the competition belongs to the entire football pyramid. Kenyan football operates in a different environment, but the principle remains relevant. A national cup loses meaning when its most experienced participants begin to treat it as optional.
What makes the situation even more jarring is the contrast it exposes. A Division Two club from Asembo dreams of hosting Gor Mahia in Siaya, while former cup and league champions quietly step away from a tournament they once used as a springboard to greatness. That imbalance should worry anyone invested in the future of the game.
The Mozzart Bet Cup is not a side show. It is one of the few competitions in Kenyan football that still offers genuine opportunity without privilege. It gives small clubs hope and struggling giants a second chance. Whether Kenyan football chooses to protect that spirit, or slowly erode it through indifference, is a question that cannot be ignored.
