Stop this debate and declare Gor Mahia champions now
What you need to know:
- It is now over a month since the leagues were stopped across the world to safeguard players and fans from contracting the deadly virus
- Back home, my beloved Gor Mahia has led the league race for the better part of the season and are seven points clear of second placed Kakamega Homeboyz
- Clearly, by the time the season was on its halfway mark, Gor Mahia were on top of the table
There has been a raging debate on whether or not the 2019/20 Kenyan Premier League should be handed to Gor Mahia should the season fail to resume due to the coronavirus pandemic.
It is now over a month since the leagues were stopped across the world to safeguard players and fans from contracting the deadly virus.
The debate on whether to hand the title to the winners as at the time of the suspension of the league has been on in so many countries.
In Europe for instance, Uefa has said should the English Premier League not resume, the title should be handed to Liverpool who only needed a win in their remaining 10 games to win their first league title in three decades.
Back home, my beloved Gor Mahia has led the league race for the better part of the season and are seven points clear of second-placed Kakamega Homeboyz.
Football Kenya Federation president Nick Mwendwa stated clearly the criteria that will be used should the league not resume. Citing the Rules and Regulations governing Kenyan football of 2019, Mwendwa said if the league does not resume at all, then the mid-season table will be used to declare Gor Mahia champions.
“If the league has not run past the halfway mark due to any kind of interruptions, the league will be cancelled. Secondly, if the league has been played past the halfway mark but 75 per cent of season matches have not been played, then the mid-season table will stand.”
What Mwendwa avers to is part of the rule book that governs league competitions in Kenya.
Clearly, by the time the season was on its halfway mark, Gor Mahia were on top of the table.
At this time, all teams had played equal number of matches.
I am a stickler to the law, but as a sportsman, I believe that a competition should be played to its conclusion. But then again, with the current state of affairs, we are not sure when the coronavirus will be managed and normal life resumed.
I have read the AFC Leopards chairman Dan Shikanda saying the league title should not be handed to Gor Mahia.
Shikanda claims that his club, which is 14 points behind K’Ogalo, can still win the league. I do not know what Shikanda has been using.
Even if we decide to use the head-to-head rule of our matches against Ingwe, they will be totally embarrassed.
As my colleague Charles Nyende aptly put in his column this week, whichever mathematical formula so devised, the calculations will show Gor Mahia as winners. If we are to pick the points garnered by the four top teams against each other, Gor Mahia will be on top.
If we use the formula provided by Mwendwa, Gor Mahia will be on top.
If we pick the winners from the team that was leading as at the time the league was stopped, Gor Mahia will still be on top.
So, what is this debate all about. Declare Gor Mahia champions.
Meanwhile, I ask the football community to join in the fight against Covid-19 spread.
