Kenyan referees praised for upholding integrity
Football Kenya Federation (FKF) referees manager Sylverster Kirwa has lauded local match officials for their integrity, noting it is the reason an increased number referees are joining the elite status.
There have been little or no incidents implicating Kenyan referees in shadowy activities since Aden Marwa was banned from all football activities after he was caught on camera receiving a Sh60,000 ‘gift’ two years ago.
INTEGRITY
This, Kirwa says, has been fuelled by training forums organised by his federation, through its international affiliates Caf and Fifa.
“In this (officiating), integrity is key. The federation has decided to focus on key areas such as building capacity, recruitment especially of more women, development and training,” said Kirwa, who is a former referee.
FIFA COURSES
“We recently organised two Fifa funded courses recently and soon after, two of our female referees were selected to officiate at the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations and the Fifa World Cup for the first time,” he said.
“The number of elite men referees has also increased to three with Peter Waweru, Gilbert Cheruiyot and Davis Omweno joining the club,” he added.
FKF has trained more than 2000 referees in the past four years, he said, with a sufficient number of women cleared to handle Kenyan Premier League matches.