October 25, 2006
Posted to the web October 25, 2006
World soccer governing body Fifa will today announce the suspension of Kenya from international football.
Fifa's emergency committee voted yesterday to kick out Kenya for failing to adhere to the agreements signed with the organisation on the running of the country's Premier League.
A Fifa official who did not want to be named yesterday said the suspension is indefinite and will only be lifted once the Kenya Football Federation respects Fifa's rules and principles.
The emergency committee has found Kenya guilty of failing to respect the rules governing the sport and dishonouring agreements signed with Fifa. The committee has been left with no option but to suspend Kenya, he said.
Further action will be taken against the KFF chairman, Mr Alfred Sambu, and secretary-general Dan Omino when the Fifa disciplinary committee meets later next week, according to the official.
Fifa is unhappy with KFF's decision to interfere with the running of the Premier League and refusing to adhere to relegation rules. The Fifa official cited the failure by KFF to relegate AFC Leopards and Shabana from the top league as one of the reasons for the country's suspension.
Fifa had last month given Kenya an October 18 deadline to sort out its internal wrangles and have a unified league with 18 clubs.
KFF failed to budge as Mr Sambu insisted that Fifa was wrong to force Kenya to have a leaner league.
The suspension will mean that the Harambee Stars will be kicked out of the qualifiers to the Africa Cup of Nations and Sony Sugar will not participate in next year's Africa Champions league. It also means that the country cannot play any friendlies or participate in any international tournament.
Further, no player intending to sign for a foreign club will be given the green light.
KFF chairman Alfred Sambu said he was not aware of the decision and refused to comment.
I don't know about such a decision.
I have no information about that, he said.
Last Thursday, Fifa's A Fifa National Associations Committee under the chairmanship of Viacheslav Koloskov of Russia in Zurich, Switzerland, proposed that Kenya be suspended for failing to honour agreements.
Kenya was cited in the meeting as a problematic association that has been riddled by internal squabbles after the federation failed to honour a 28 point agreement signed in Cairo in January.
According to the agreements, KFF was to recognise an independent body by clubs to run the Premier League under the Kenya Premier League Limited.
The agreements which were part of the conditions by Fifa after the lifting of an earlier suspension in 2004 for Kenya to follow to be accommodated back to international football.
But while KFF adhered to some of the agreements, it's interference with the running of the Premier League has not gone down well with Fifa.
Sambu's reign at KFF has been very bumpy. He was in charge when Fifa suspended Kenya in 2004, just six months after he had been elected. Then, Fifa's decision was as a result of internal squabbling and Government interference.
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