When AFC Leopards received a FIFA transfer ban in March 2021, the club’s future looked bleak. Stripped of the ability to register new players for two transfer windows after failing to settle a Ksh1.8 million debt, the storied Kenyan giant seemed trapped in a downward spiral. Yet what began as punishment soon became a catalyst for reinvention — and former chairman Dan Shikanda now calls that forced reset a blessing in disguise.
From Crisis to Club DNA
The ban arrived amid a string of departures and unpaid wages that had already dented the club’s reputation. Players like Vincent Habamahoro, Tresor Ndikumana, Ismailia Diara, and Soter Kayumba left amid disputes, leaving Ingwe with a depleted roster and a tarnished image. With outside signings off the table, the club had no choice but to look inward — and the academy suddenly became the lifeline.
Youth at the Heart of the Comeback
Shikanda says the enforced pivot to youth development reshaped the club’s trajectory. Academy graduates such as Lewis Bandi and Victor Otieno emerged as symbols of that rebirth. Otieno’s story is especially poignant: nurtured from schoolboy prospect at Jamhuri High School to first-team regular, his long wait to be registered ended in August 2023 when the club finally added him and 18 others to the squad. That patient investment paid off as a new core of homegrown talent began to mature together.
Building a Team That Lasts
With established players reluctant to join a club under sanction, Leopards doubled down on scouting and developing young prospects. Shikanda credits continuity in leadership for preserving that foundation: successors kept faith with the youth core, made measured additions, and resisted dismantling the squad. The result was a cohesive unit that grew in confidence and capability rather than being patched together season by season.
Proof on the Pitch
The payoff arrived in dramatic fashion late last season. In a crucial away fixture against rivals Gor Mahia in Homa Bay, Leopards held their own in a 1-1 draw that stunned pundits and fans alike. Shikanda recalls telling supporters afterward that the team had “come of age.” Beyond the result, he points to a stylistic shift — smoother build-up play, balanced wings, and a collective understanding that starts from the goalkeeper and flows through every line.
A New Identity for Ingwe
Shikanda credits former coach Patrick Aussems for instilling a football-first philosophy that replaced aimless long balls with purposeful possession. Today, he says, Leopards are “playing football” — creating chances, finishing them, and doing so with a style that reflects deliberate development rather than short-term fixes. For Shikanda, the FIFA ban will be remembered not as the low point it once seemed, but as the moment that forced AFC Leopards to rediscover its identity and build a sustainable future.
