Sofapaka, Muhoroni Youth await league status fate
What you need to know:
- The two clubs were demoted to the National Super League by Football Kenya Federation at the beginning of this year for failing to comply with Caf Club Licensing rules.
- They appealed the decision at the tribunal.
- Muhoroni and Sofapaka have both vowed to fight for further stay in the premier league by all means.
The Sports Disputes Tribunal is on Wednesday expected to make a ruling on the petition filed by Sofapaka and Muhoroni Youth seeking to be re-admitted into the SportPesa Premier League.
The two clubs were demoted to the National Super League by Football Kenya Federation at the beginning of this year for failing to comply with Caf Club Licensing rules, but they appealed the decision at the tribunal.
The case has been pending for close to a month now, and the tribunal chairman John Ohaga on Tuesday said that deliberations have been ongoing based on submissions made by Sofapaka.
Ohaga explained that being a joint petition, it was unnecessary for Muhoroni to make separate submissions since they were relegated for similar reasons.
“The cases involving the two clubs are similar in that both of them were relegated for failing to demonstrate compliance with the Club Licensing regulations. Whatever decision will be taken for one will automatically apply to the other and that is why we didn’t ask for separate submissions from Muhoroni,” said Ohaga.
“We acknowledge that there is a sense of urgency at this point since the season has already kicked off, and we intend to close the case on Wednesday without fail.”
But even as the tribunal’s decision looms large, Muhoroni and Sofapaka have both vowed to fight for further stay in the premier league by all means.
Muhoroni chairman Moses Adagala and his Sofapaka counterpart Elly Kalekwa have declared that should the tribunal rule against them, they will seek recourse at Fifa.
Sofapaka threatened to delay the league kick off by obtaining a court order on Friday evening, but the league organisers allowed the six league games to go on as scheduled.
It has since emerged that although valid, Sofapaka had made a critical error in misspelling the name of the defendant (Kenyan Premier League Limited), which rendered the injunction null and void.
Muhoroni and Sofapaka were demoted to the second tier league early this year for failing to meet the minimum threshold for Caf Club Licensing regulations, and FKF announced that they would be replaced by Vihiga United and KCB.
FKF explained that KCB and Vihiga United (who finished in fifth and sixth positions respectively in the NSL last season) were the two teams eligible to replace the relegated clubs since they had already complied with the club licensing regulations, but Muhoroni and Sofapaka filed a petition at the tribunal protesting the move.
