Fifa ban on stadia now lifted after successful FKL appeal

By Gilbert Wandera

Fifa has lifted a two-match stadia ban it had imposed on Kenya following an appeal lodged by Football Kenya Limited (FKL).

This means that Kenya will be allowed to host their November 19 World Cup qualifier against Seychelles at the Nyayo National Stadium.

Fifa’s Head of Olympic and World Cup qualifiers committee Gordon Favic in a letter to FKL chairman Mohammed Hatimy confirmed the latest development.

"This is to confirm that FKL will be allowed to host their next World Cup qualifier in Nairobi. Before then we request that you send us a detailed security report for the Seychelles match by October 31 latest," said part of the letter from Fifa.

The Fifa official also confirmed that fans will be allowed to watch the match as long as measures are put in place to control them.

Safety measures

Favic, however, insisted that FKL must ensure that all measures are put in place to ensure that Fifa’s safety standards are adhered to avoid a similar action in future.

According to the FKL head, they will do everything possible to adhere to all requirements by Fifa regarding hosting of matches so that the country’s main stadia are not banned again.

"We are delighted by this development and will ensure that it does not happen again," he said.

The company was contemplating playing their World Cup qualifier match against Seychelles in Uganda or even Tanzania if Fifa had not lifted the ban though the former was preferred because of the weather conditions, which are similar to Nairobi.

World cup qualifier

Fifa confirmed three weeks ago that Kenya was prohibited from hosting Seychelles in the second leg of the World Cup qualifying preliminary round late this month following past breaches of conduct by local fans.

This forced Fifa to slap a two-match home ban on Kenya last year in April but this only became evident three weeks ago when Fifa reminded FKL that the suspension starts with this qualifiers.