NAIROBI, Kenya, July 27- Football Kenya Federation (FKF) has made a U-turn and advised their Kenyan Premier League counterparts to consider postponing Sunday’s Top 8 clash between arch rivals Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards.
“I received a petition from the Leopards members sent to our chairman raising concerns about the security of their players and fans on match day.
“The club said they didn’t attend the stakeholders meeting on Wednesday hence couldn’t guarantee their safety since they were not aware of the measures put in place by the organizers,” FKF CEO, Lordvick Aduda told Capital Sport on Friday.
Ingwe claimed they were not ready to honour the fixture due to financial constraints, lack of consultations by organisers as well as injuries to their players.
Aduda added the federation was not satisfied with security plans communicated to them by FKF saying they moved to act to avert incidents of violence.
“We recommend an inclusive meeting between both clubs’ officials, stadium management and security organs should be convened before the game.
“We have taken this decision to safeguard the interests of both clubs and their fans,” he explained.
On Wednesday, KPL Chief Executive, Jack Oguda said that his body and FKF had concurred on penalising Ingwe if they went ahead to abandon the encounter.
“All along, we have been aware of the Top 8 since it was launched last year and the clubs that have been participating have honoured all the matches. There are rules we have when clubs fail to honour matches and that will definitely apply,” Oguda had emphasised.
Despite the risk of heavy sanctions, Ingwe remained adamant they would not take to the pitch accusing KPL of harbouring sinister motives against the club.
“It’s on record that we requested KPL to send us some money in cash but they insisted on sending the cheque to the bank, knowing very well that we can’t withdraw it since our account is frozen.
“We are not playing regardless of the consequences,” Leopard’s chairman Alex Ole Magelo said.
In March, the league derby between the two clubs was halted for several minutes after sections of Gor fans reacted angrily to a referee decision forcing riot police to get involved with teargas to break up the fracas.
