Rugby clubs dig in for war over leagues cancellation

Kenya Cup clubs have given the Kenya Rugby Union (KRU) until Tuesday to rescind its decision to cancel all national leagues.

Kenya Cup League chairman Xavier Makuba said on Saturday said the clubs “will escalate the matter” should the union fail to act by Tuesday.

“We intend to take the matter to the union’s Judicial Committee, if the federation fails to act,” Makuba said, adding that clubs feel that KRU took the action “too soon and arbitrarily.”

“As earlier discussed, we as Kenya Cup clubs protest the cancellation of the league by KRU’s Hon. Secretary because we feel it’s too soon for such a decision. We are also very disappointed for not being consulted on such a big decision which has a direct impact on clubs,” Makuba said in letter addressed to KRU chairman Oduor Gangla.

Gangla said KRU will look into the appeal by clubs but said KRU board had to make hard decisions based on the local and global season, adding that it’s not by chance that rugby seasons start in July and end in April.

Makuba said clubs are in agreement that, with the current coronavirus pandemic, rugby cannot be played locally but the Kenya Cup should remain suspended until further notice.

“Just like the local school calendar has been suspended and not cancelled so should rugby leagues as we hope for normalcy to return soonest,” said Makuba.

Makuba added that suspension of the leagues will secure all competing interests, with KRU, clubs and fixtures committee analysing the situation once normalcy has returned to agree on the best way forward for local rugby.

“Kindly review and consider this position and please, in future consult your major stakeholders on such matters,” Makuba said in the letter.

KRU has a pool of officers it can pick from to form a judicial committee to hear cases if clubs or other stakeholders have complaints or issues to be resolved.

However, if a decision arrived at by the committee isn’t satisfactory, the aggrieved parties can seek redress from Sports Disputes Tribunal chaired by John Ohaga. Ohaga also sits in the KRU Judicial panel.

“We shall look into their appeal but people must also be sensitive (to the current circumstances),” said Gangla. “We are cognisant of the investment and sacrifices clubs have made.”

Gangla said the matter has been compounded by the fact that KRU will have many activities from July if coronavirus shall have been contained by then.

“The suspended World Series will continue in September because there is a window there. We have a window in May and June and we can’t end the season in July,” Gangla said.

On Thursday, KRU Secretary-General Ian Mugambi, in a statement, annulled all local league and cup competitions this season due to coronavirus pandemic.

“The cancellation means there will be no promotion or relegation of teams in any of the leagues, with all teams remaining in their current division for next season,” said Mugambi in the statement.

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. KRU moved to postpone the leagues after the government issued a directive following the first confirmed case of coronavirus on March 13.

Both Kenya Cup and KRU Championship were headed for the play-offs on March 14, with the semis due on March 21. The finals had been planned for April 4.

Enterprise Cup semis were due on March 28, with the finals scheduled for April 18. Kabras Sugar finished the regular season of the Kenya Cup on top with 74 points, followed by defending champions KCB Rugby on 71.

Unbeaten Strathmore Leos are leading the KRU Championship with 76 points, followed by Masinde Muliro University (67).