National Super League side Kisumu Hot Stars are contesting the decision by the league management to award the game against Shabana to the opponents on a two goals three points basis after they failed to show up at Narok for their league match.The team has also sought to be enjoined in a petition by a celebrated Kenyan Sports Journalist Francis Ngira Okelo seeking to stop the low-tier leagues as well as the arrest of FKF president Nick Mwendwa and the Federation’s CEO Barry Otieno for flouting of Covid-19 regulations, with the club’s Team Manager Andrew Otieno saying that they felt the petition is something that concerns them.”We feel that the petition is something that concerns us. I cannot risk moving players out of Kisumu without Covid tests. I cannot risk training yet we will be contravening the law. I cannot risk taking players to Narok then come back to Kisumu past curfew time yet we do not have any letter authorizing us to be out past curfew time,” Otieno told Mozzart Sport.Habari za jioni 👋 vijana wetu walifika uwanjani tayari kusaka pointi tatu ila wapinzani hawakutokea, tunangoja mawasiliano kamili kukota Shirikisho la kandanda FKF, Kulingana na Sheria tumetia pointi tatu na magoli mawili kibindoni.#ToreBobe#ToreMorero pic.twitter.com/bkkABd7U5C— Shabana Fc Kenya (@Shabanafckenya) July 3, 2021 Otieno said that they did not agree with the decision to gift Shabana the three points, adding that they sat and decided to pursue other avenues as a club.”We did not have a fairground in that game. We did a letter after they awarded the game to Shabana but there has been no reply yet. We said if they cannot revoke the decision to award the game to Shabana, we shall sit down as a club and seek other avenues,” Otieno said.The team manager said that they wrote to the Federation seeking to have the game postponed now that they come from one of the 13 counties affected by the government’s directive to stop sporting activities, highlighting that they had not been training thus they were not in a position to assemble a team to travel to Narok.#Thread: Here’s a draft of history;As a follow-up to my article dated June 11 (📌 on my Facebook blog https://t.co/qsRP1samlC ) an exposé on the blatant violation of COVID-19 Rules governing the resumption of contact sports in Kenya… Cont pic.twitter.com/rKoB0MtQg9— Francis Ngira (@francisngira) June 16, 2021 Even if they managed to assemble a team, Otieno mentioned that they did not have a fairground having in mind that they had not trained since their training facility in Kisumu had been closed.”We wrote a letter as a team to the Federation ahead of our game against MCF initially and they pushed that game. In the game against Shabana, we received an email telling us that the game has been pushed to Narok, thus we should find our way to Narok. We wrote a letter to the Federation again telling them that we could not manage to assemble a team as the team was not training because our training facility had been closed down there is no way we can train having in mind that we are training in a government facility which is closed and that training itself is a sporting activity,” the team manager added.Initially, a postponement to the match had been granted but the decision was rescinded after Shabana managed to secure Narok Stadium for the clash, and FKF confirmed to Mozzart Sport through Ken Okaka that, by all means, the second email sent to Kisumu Hot Stars overrode the initial email.”That was a blunder on their side. They wanted the game to be postponed but the request was denied. The first email sent to them was appraising their request to postpone the match. The second declined the postponement and they replied to the second email. The last email sent to them supersedes the initial one,” Okaka saidKisumu Hot Stars are currently 17th on the log with 27 points after 24 matches.
