Refs risking the red card; female referees are unfit to officiate KPL matches, say top officials

Referee Damaris Kimani (centre) during a previus KPL match at Nyayo Stadium.PHOTO/DENNIS OKEYO

Kenyan Premier League (KPL) faces serious credibility issues after officials confirmed that women referees are working illegally.

Despite a directive from world football governing body Fifa indicating that match officials must be subjected and pass the Physical Endurance Test (PET), the female referees currently officiating KPL matches have neither been subjected to nor passed the PET.

Eli Mukolwe, the chairman of referees committee, confirmed the referees have been illegally taking charge of matches. “It is true they are not supposed to officiate in matches because they have not gone through the full course of PET.” But asked why the female referees have not been subjected to PET, Mukolwe says “the PET we give is for men. We do not want them (females) to fail that and get struck off the list of referees.”

KPL Chief Executive Officer, Jack Oguda, said they were allowed to use female referees to plug the shortage of Fifa referees in the country.

“We were allowed to use them by Fifa Referees Development Officer for the Eastern African region (a Mr Carlos) because we lack Fifa referees,” Oguda told FeverPitch.

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