April 2 – One of Kenya’s former football administrators has urged FIFA to end the impasse within the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) in order to stop the game being suspended entirely.
Mohammed Hatimy, a former chairman of FKF’s predecessor, Kenya Football Federation, wants FIFA to urgently form a normalisation committee to organise elections.
Last week FIFA over-ruled a local judgement that threw out the national federation’s entire executive. The Sports Disputes Tribunal had ruled that the current FKF regime were in office illegally and had to vacate as their term had ended.
The tribunal also called for a formation of a normalisation committee to undertake FKF’s roles including organising fresh elections. But FIFA intervened by quashing the ruling and stating the judgement was not legally binding, reinstating the FKF Executive Committee including the current president Nick Mwendwa.
Hatimy, who served as an administrator in Kenyan football for 24 years, told local media: “I was shocked to read that FIFA had rubbished the ruling of the Sports Disputes Tribunal (SDT) which had cancelled FKF elections and asked the world body to form a normalization committee.
“It is FIFA’s own statutes which demand that federations should have independent arbitration mechanisms in their respective countries to resolve their disputes.”