Kenya is at risk of getting banned by the world’s football governing body FIFA over the pending court cases on the Football Kenya Federation elections.
In a letter, FIFA statutes told Kenya that it is keenly following the proceedings especially on the current situation about FKF elections.
Football Kenya Federation had earlier announced that it will hold elections come December but two bodies took the matter to court to demand the dismissal of elections.
According to FIFA rules, the disputes within a football board should be solved internally and should not be taken to an ordinary judicial body.
“The aforementioned articles are in line with one of FIFA’s core principles, that is, the prohibition of recourse to ordinary courts of law, unless specifically foreseen by FIFA regulations or binding legal provisions,” FIFA stated.
“We further wish to underline that a violation of this provision by the FKF or its members may lead to sanctions as provided for in the FIFA statutes, including a possible suspension.”
The current FKF president, Nick Mwendwa confirmed receipt of the letter but said that they will still have to wait for the final verdicts from the courts.
“If the courts rule that the elections should be stopped, then that is a FIFA ban coming and we will not travel to Egypt to play our first 2021 AFCON qualifier. This is the same thing that happened in Sierra Leone. For us, we will just inform FIFA of whatever outcomes the courts have,” Mwendwa said.
Two cases are pending in court over the FKF elections, which were petitioned by Sports Disputes Tribunal where one verdict is due on November 5, while the other is due November 25.
Meanwhile, Nick Mwendwa is the only candidate who has been cleared by the elections board to run for the presidency. The elections are due December 5.
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