Players, fans suffer as greedy football officials engage in court battles

Lawyers Geoffrey Obura (for KPL) and Eric Mutua (for FKF) at the High Court in Nairobi on March 5, 2015. The first signs of a truce between the two warring football parties emerged on March 9, 2015 FKF welcomed the Kenyan Premier League (KPL) Limited to the negotiating table in a bid to find a way out of the stand-off over the top-flight competition. FILE PHOTO | MARTIN MUKANGU |

What you need to know:

  • The sportsmen and women suffer and the public is treated to yet another week of circus theatrics.
  • However this is the sad reality for football and rugby.

This is starting to sound like a recurring theme: Sports officials remain stubborn, arrogant and act with impunity.

The sportsmen and women suffer and the public is treated to yet another week of circus theatrics.

However this is the sad reality for football and rugby, which both suffered the indignity of having their officials attend court cases this week.

For football, the staggering selfishness and greed of the officials resulted in the groundbreaking court cases at the Milimani Law Courts on Tuesday and Thursday.

This means that both parties will have to adhere to the ruling next week by a judge who may not be so intimately involved in the sport.

Stakeholders and the public have seen the shredding away of a very successful league by the Football Kenya Federation (FKF), placing impossible demands on the Kenyan Premier League (KPL) officials, which has now left the future of the sport at the mercy of the courts.

It will be interesting to follow the ruling, and the two parties will have to realise that should they decide not to toe the line then they will be held in contempt of court.

As for rugby, we are awaiting the ruling in the Kenya Rugby Union versus the consortium that claims to run the sport following their ‘victory’ at a Special General Meeting, which the board in power termed illegal.

After reading various posts on social media this week, it’s clear that rugby is hugely polarised, and it will take a massive effort from the next administration elected at the Annual General Meeting on March 17 to unify the sport.

MIXED RESULTS

Back to football, and it was a weekend of mixed fortunes for Kenyan clubs in continental action.

League champions Gor Mahia went through to the first round of the CAF Champions League on the away-goals rule despite losing 3-2 to Madagascar’s CNaPS.

The second goal for K’Ogalo by George ‘Blackberry’ Odhiambo just might be the most crucial goal of his career so far.

They now play AC Leopards of DR Congo, which has several players in the country’s national team that competed in this year’s Africa Cup of Nations tournament.

The club is based in a town called Dolisie, and Leopards are regular participants in continental tournaments, having competed in the champions League last year and 2013.

As for Sofapaka, it’s back to the drawing board after FC Platinum knocked them out of the Confederations Cup in Zimbabwe. Plenty was expected of the team following an off-season recruiting of players.

However, it was evident over both legs that their defence was the weak link. Star defender Eugene Asike is missing as he wants out, and that has really hurt the team at the back.

TEJAS HIRANI IMPRESSES

Sixteen-year-old Tejas Hirani is well on his way to becoming Kenya’s version of Lewis Hamilton.

The motorsports phenomenon won both his races in the Formula Gulf category in Dubai last weekend, despite using his spare car in the second race.

Hirani has aspirations to be a Formula One driver, and he received a boost by being called up by the McLaren team to visit their academy for young drivers. This could be his breakthrough and we wish him the best of luck.

In the meantime Hirani is being partnered by Tim Jessop for this weekend’s Rally Raid.

Jessop is Carl ‘Flash’ Tundo’s co-driver for the Kenya National Rally Championship and should provide much-needed experience for the teenager, who ironically is too young to qualify for a Kenyan driver’s licence!

FORMULA ONE IS BACK

So we won’t see Hirani in Formula one this season, but the excitement is building for next week’s traditional opener in Melbourne, Australia.

Don’t forget to get all the build-up, updates and roundups for all the races on my shows on Nation FM.

This year once again features rule changes. Here are some of the highlights:

Power units: Each driver may use only four power units (the hybrid engine) during the season, and should a driver exceed that, he will be handed a grid penalty.

New penalties: In addition to the five-second penalty introduced for 2014, race stewards also have the option to hand out 10-second penalties for minor infringements in 2015.

Points: Double points will no longer be applied for the last race of the season, as was the case last year.

Virtual safety car: To improve safety, especially during double-waved yellow flags, a virtual safety car system will be used to ensure that drivers slow sufficiently, and this system can be used to neutralize a race without having to introduce the safety car itself.

Race suspensions: Drivers must proceed slowly into the pit lane, rather than back onto the starting grid, if the race is suspended.

Clearing the grid: A driver will be forced to start from the pit lane if any member of his team, or any relevant piece of equipment, remains on the starting grid after the 15-second signal has been given.

Unsafe releases: Unsafe releases of a car during a pit stop will be punished by an automatic 10-second stop-and-go penalty for the driver, and additional penalties may be imposed at the stewards’ discretion.

Minimum weight: The car’s minimum weight has been increased by 10 kilograms, or 22 pounds: Without fuel, each car must weigh at least 702 kilograms.

Cockpit safety: The Zylon anti-intrusion panels on both sides of the survival cell have been extended upward to the rim of the cockpit and alongside the driver’s head.

Testing: There will be two in-season two-day tests, down from four in 2014, and two of the four days must be reserved for new young drivers.

It was also announced two weeks ago that drivers would no longer be able to change the design of their helmet whenever they want.

Visually the biggest change to the cars is the nose. They look a lot more striking, and what a welcome change after having to put up with some frankly ugly looking cars last season.