Clubs to take their league cancellation protest to KRU judicial body
What you need to know:
- The Enterprise Cup semi-finals were due March 28 with the finals scheduled for April 18.
Kenya Cup and Championship clubs are digging in for a fight with Kenya Rugby Union (KRU) as they seek to compel the union to reverse its decision of cancelling the 2019-2020 season.
Kenya Cup League chairman Xavier Makuba said that they will today take their case to KRU’s independent Judicial Committee since the Union has not addressed pertinent issues in their appeal.
“Our appeal was just simple … for the Union to retract the statement where they cancelled the leagues before we can engage in further talks,” Makuba said. “What we have seen is a vague statement saying nothing.”
KRU secretary Ian Mugambi, in a statement on Thursday disclosed having received petitions from their affiliate clubs requesting for a review of the decision.
Mugambi said that the Union’s Board will hold further consultations with the various stakeholders and will provide further updates once the process is completed.
Mugambi, in a statement on April 9, cancelled league and cup competitions this season due to the novel coronavirus crisis.
The cancellation meant that there will be no promotion or relegation in any of the leagues, with all teams remaining in their current division for next season. Mugambi said the results from the 2019-2020 Kenya Cup, KRU Championship and Nationwide Leagues have been rendered invalid alongside the Enterprise and Mwamba Cup.
The cancellation attract protest from clubs which gave the Union up to April 14 to rescind their decision or face further escalation.
“We are not happy since they have not handled our grievances and instead people are resorting to chest-thumping. You discuss issues but people opt to send statements that are not making sense, just to buy time,” said Makuba.
KRU had postponed the leagues after the government issued a directive following the first case of the Covid-19 in the country on March 13. The Board later met to cancel the leagues on April 9.
Both Kenya Cup and KRU Championship were due for the play-offs on March 14 with the semi-finals due March 21. The finals had been planned for April 4.
The Enterprise Cup semi-finals were due March 28 with the finals scheduled for April 18.
Kabras Sugar had topped the regular Kenya Cup with 74 points followed by defending champions Kenya Commercial Bank on 71.
Homeboyz were to meet Menengai Oilers in the play-off with the winners getting to meet KCB in the semi-finals while Kabras Sugar were to await the winners between Impala Saracens and Mwamba.
Strathmore Leos had topped the KRU Championship unbeaten with 76 points followed by Masinde Muliro University with 67 points. The Leos were to face the winner between Northern Suburbs and United States International University in one of the semi-final.
Masinde Muliro would have met the winner between Mean Machine from the University of Nairobi and Egerton Wasps.
