By John Lawrence
Nairobi, Kenya: The failure to arrest the AFC Leopards fans, who stormed the pitch and beat up the referee two weeks ago has angered a top match official.
Zach Wandei, a retired FIFA referee, has said such acts will not end unless the full force of law is applied.
“The people who caused mayhem at the stadium on that day are well known and can easily be identified. Why not arrest and charge them in a court of law?” he asked.
Speaking exclusively to The Nairobian, Wandei, who was the match commissioner during the fateful Leopards-Chemelil game, said it is unjust to let hooligans have their way.
“Banning fans from attending matches and levying hefty fines on clubs alone will not curb the goons’ menace. There should be clear-cut penalties to automatically make any act of hooliganism a crime,” said Wandei.
He said football stakeholders should join hands in fighting violence.
The top official thinks many of those who attend football matches are not genuine fans football, and do not understand the dynamics of the game.
Rule 3.4(b) of the Kenya Premier League (KPL) says, “a club will forfeit any match which was abandoned because of the misconduct of their members or supporters.” However, Tobias ‘Jua Kali’ Ochola, a former Kenyan International, faulted the rules for not being stringent enough.
“According to the KPL rules, clubs have the absolute mandate to check the conduct of their fans and supporters to ensure they refrain from any acts of violence, threats, abusive or provocative behaviour, among others. As such, the rules fail to spell out prosecutorial actions against criminals like those who invaded the pitch during the AFC Leopards game,” he said.
Jua Kali said Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Chairman Sam Nyamweya cannot purport to have banned a fan from attending football matches for life.
“How do you implement such an order when we know very well that the country’s security system at matches aren’t that effective to identify him at all match venues nationally?” he asked.
Former aspirant for FKF Nairobi Branch chairmanship, Benjamin Solo, blamed the federation for not taking stern action against errant referees. According Solo, any referee who is judged to have poorly officiated a match should also be penalised.
“It is not in order to only punish the clubs. The law should be applied to all wrongdoers. If investigations prove that a given match official goofed then they should also face the same law,” he said.
Solo, however, clarified that like any other football stakeholder, he is against hooliganism, be it from the fans or players.
