Gor Mahia declared 2019/20 champions, news sparks protest from KPL

Football Kenya Federation president Nick Mwendwa has announced Gor Mahia will be 2019/2020 Kenya Premier League Champions [COURTESY]

Football Kenya Federation president Nick Mwendwa has announced Gor Mahia will be 2019/2020 Kenya Premier League Champions.

Mwendwa, through a tweet on Thursday, April 30, congratulated K’Ogalo and added they would represent the country in the CAF Champions League next season.

“Ooh and Congratulations Gor Mahia! You are champions once again and you will represent Kenya on the champions league next season. Let’s do this!” he tweeted.

Ooh and Congratulations Gor Mahia ! You are champions once again and you will represent Kenya on the champions league Next season. Lets do this ! — Nick Mwendwa (@Nmwendwa) ="https://twitter.com/Nmwendwa/status/1255791067716374528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 30, 2020<

The FKF boss went on to point out where the decision was derived from in the law – Section 2.6 of the FKF constitution which governs failure to complete the league.

Section 2.6.1.1 through to 2.6.1.3 states as follows:

Where the league format due to circumstances of force majeure fails to be completed within the season, the league winner shall be determined as follows.

• Before each and every club has completed its first round fixture the league shall be declared null and void
• Where all the clubs in the league have completed the first round fixture but less than 75% league games have been played, the table standings at the end of the first round shall be considered as the final table standing of the league.
• Where at least one club has played more than 75% of the league games, the following formula shall be used to determine the table position for the respective group: Total number of points earned from the number of games played multiplied by the total number of games supposed to be played decided by the number of games played.

In a rejoinder to Mwendwa’s tweet, the KPL have released a statement strongly disputing FKFs decision to annul the league.

“The lack of consistency in the Federation’s stand on the fate the two competitions implies; a selective application of the rules by FKF, the selective interpretation by FKF of CAF’s letter to the Federation, disregard by FKF of the hard work put in by KPL teams to reach where they are in the current KPL 2019/20 standings, amounts to breach of the KPL mandate on running of the league through interfering with the management of its affairs. That said, KPL wishes to state that it is strongly against annulling the league at this stage without first exploring other avenues which will see the season played to the end,” said KPL.

KPL also faulted the federation its inconsistency, saying they amounted to breach of the league’s mandate through interfering with the management of its affairs.

“The lack of consistency in the Federation’s stand on the fate the two competitions implies; a selective application of the rules by FKF, the selective interpretation by FKF of CAF’s letter to the Federation, disregard by FKF of the hard work put in by KPL teams to reach where they are in the current KPL 2019/20 standings, amounts to breach of the KPL mandate on running of the league through interfering with the management of its affairs,” part of the statement read.

KPL's response to FKF [COURTESY]

Football Kenya Federation resolved to suspend all sporting activities following the confirmation of the first COVID-19 case in the country.

In a statement to newsrooms, FKF said: “Following the confirmation of the first Corona Virus (Covid-19) in Kenya, Football Kenya Federation has suspended FKF grassroots football competitions and women leagues including the Kenya Women Premier League, Women Division One League”.

Following the government’s directive to stop sporting activities, FKF postponed three rounds of matches to the first week of April following consultations with the Ministry of Health. The State has also banned the use of the country’s two biggest stadia - Kasarani and Nyayo.