For the second time in under two months, referees and match commissioners across the country are threatening to down their tools ahead of the upcoming weekend matches citing frustrations from the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Caretaker Committee.All referees and match commissioners from the Football Kenya Federation Premier League (FKFPL), the Women Premier League (WPL), the National Super League (NSL), and the FKF Divison One have vowed not to take to the field the coming weekend if their dues are not settled.Our stakeholder engagements continue as we meet with coaches, referees and women premier league representatives. Follow the proceedings live on this link https://t.co/ZLA5osVONx— FKFcaretaker (@FKFcaretaker) April 25, 2022 The match officials were scheduled to hold a meeting at Nyayo National Stadium to deliberate on the way forward on Wednesday, but the same did not take place with a couple of them citing logistical challenges and schools re-opening, forcing the meeting to be pushed to next week.”We have been forwarding pending match demands to Mr. Kasuve and his subcommittee but unfortunately, we are not getting our payments as promised even after Mr.Kasuve sensationally claiming they had all our payments in their account and that all payments had been done. It’s sad to note that some referees have not been paid dues dating back to Dec 2021. No one seems to have the answer to what is happening and whether we will be paid and when,” part of the message sent to all officials read.Kenyan referees issue strike notice after Caretaker Committee frustrationsSpeaking to Mozzart Sport anonymously, one of the referees noted that they have been taken in circles for a while now when it comes to payment, adding that they have resolved to use actions now that words are not working.”We have been using money from our own pockets to honor matches and that is taking a toll on us. We have been given empty promises from time to time and we are tired. We will not go to any matches this weekend and thus we are advising teams not to travel unless they plan to travel with their own match officials. Some of us are owed money of up to 15 matches and that has drained us completely,” the referee said.Efforts by Mozzart Sport to reach the head of the referees’ docket at the Caretaker Committee Titus Kasuve for comment were as both calls and texts went unanswered.
