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Last week I said on this column that the Kenyan Premier League and Football Kenya Federation should go ahead and declare Gor Mahia champions of the 2019/20 season.
Well, FKF went ahead and did exactly that three days later.
But that has elicited so much controversy with non other than KPL that have taken on FKF boss Nick Mwendwa after his announcement on Thursday.
KPL in their protest say the announcement by FKF amounted to breach of the league’s mandate through interfering with the management of its affairs and a disregard by FKF of the hard work put in by KPL teams to reach where they are in the current KPL 2019/20 standings.
I do not want to fault KPL in their protest neither do I want to do the same on FKF on their declaration of Gor Mahia as champions, but I am seeing politics now coming into play.
One thing must be clear here, what does the rule book state especially in the situation that we find ourselves.
According to the federation, there are guidelines to follow when such a situation arises.
Before each and every club has completed its first round fixture the league shall be declared null and void.
Where all the clubs in the league have completed the first round fixture but less than 75 per cent league games have been played, the table standings at the end of the first round shall be considered as the final table standing of the league.
Where at least one club has played more than 75 per cent of the league games, the following formula shall be used to determine the table position for the respective group: Total number of points earned from the number of games played multiplied by the total number of games supposed to be played decided by the number of games played.
Due to the Covid-19, we find ourselves in a situation where the league will possibly not continue to its conclusion. Other countries have already gone ahead and ended their season.
But while I think FKF were right in declaring Gor Mahia champions as stipulated in the guidelines, KPL feel slighted and rightly so.
We are all aware that the federation are the custodians of football in Kenya and KPL are running the league on their behalf, therefore, FKF has all the right to make decisions on the league.
While it would have been important for the federation to consult with the KPL before making the declaration, the most obvious fact is Gor Mahia will still be champions whether there is consultation or not.
So it is important for KPL and the federation to put their political differences aside and come to an agreement over this important issue.
We all know that some clubs are not happy seeing Gor Mahia being declared champions, but what did they do to stop Gor Mahia from either being at the top at the halfway stage of the league or by the time the league was stopped.
Controversy aside, KPL should start focusing on the next season, because I am not seeing the remainder of the 2019/20 being played.
On a sad note, I send my condolences to the family of our former winger and dribbling maestro Martin Ouma Ogwanjo “Mengistu” who passed on last week. Rest in Peace Ogwanjo Chati.
