KPL now challenges FKF’s court order
The immediate future of Kenyan football look set to be determined within the corridors of justice, after the Kenyan Premier League Limited (KPL) moved to court on Wednesday morning in a bid to overturn last week’s court order that temporarily halted games of the top flight football competition from taking place.
In its court papers, KPL which is represented by respected lawyer and Gor Mahia Chairman Ambrose Rachier, states among other reasons, that Football Kenya Federation (FKF) obtained the order dated February 20, 2015 by breaking its own constitution, and after failing to disclose to the courts “very relevant and crucial facts, materials and information.”
KPL has also argued that the said stalemate involving FKF and KPL – was not supposed to be handled in ordinary courts, as per the Fifa Statutes.
“That I am aware that Regulation 68 of the Fifa Statute, Article 47 of the Caf Statute and Article 67 of the Constitution of FKF all divest from this court the jurisdiction to hear and determine this suit,” KPL argued.
KPL also claims that FKF moved to court in a huff, in a bid to divert or postpone a looming Fifa ban.
DISCIPLINARY MEASURES
“That evidently the threats of sanction and disciplinary measures taken by the world governing body Fifa can therefore be as a consequence of the plaintiff breaching the express provisions of the Fifa Statute, the Caf Statue and its own constitution.
The 17 page suit also highlights among other issues a “soft loan” of Sh 2 million borrowed from KPL by FKF as a way of confirming the relationship between the two parties, the popularity of the KPL, which is “graced by players from Burundi, DR Congo, Ghana, Nigeria, Liberia, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe”.
The suit also claims that the court order was “dropped into the compound of the Kenya Premier League Limited on Monday”, at a time it was “logistically impossible to stop the football matches from proceeding”.
Among the repercussions if the court order is enforced according to KPL in this suit, is the livelihood of 500 players coaches, alongside the pastime of thousands of football fans alongside a contractual obligation with SuperSport.