NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun 21- The Kenya Rugby Union (KRU) board has fired Kenya Sevens head coach Innocent Simiyu in the wake of the sponsor black-out saga at the Paris 7s last month.
KRU is said to have instigated proceedings against the team for masking off the ‘Make it Kenya’ logo from the front of their jerseys at the Paris 7s and according to sources, Simiyu stormed the on Wednesday to stand for his players, saying they should not be victimized for the action.
And now, the board seems to have taken the drastic decision of axing the tactician who is credited for leading the team to their best ever finish in the World Rugby Sevens series where they finished with 104 points.
Efforts to reach the KRU to confirm the development were futile as the calls went unanswered.
Simiyu still has less than four months to run in his contract having signed a two-year deal in October 2016.
It has been an eventful day at the KRU with Tourism Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala in the morning announcing that he has instructed Brand Kenya to cancel their Sh20mn sponsorship with the Sevens team over the Paris scandal.
The Union in turn released a statement later in the day accusing the players of causing what Balala described as a ‘shame’.
It is left to be seen whether the Union will now disband the team and start afresh, just less than a month to the Rugby World Cup in San Francisco, USA.