The controversial and often inconsistent decisions made by referees recently have not gone unpunished after Football Kenya Federation’s issued suspensions and warnings to match officials found culpable of not going by the book.
“In line with the vision of improving the level of officiating in the country, the FKF referees committee has resolved to suspend assistant referee John Alando for three weeks due to poor officiating.
“Alando has been handed the suspension for allowing a goal scored from an obvious offside position in a Top 8 match, which pitted Gor vs Ushuru, on May 2, 2016 at the Nyayo stadium” read the federation’s statement. The committee also moved to serve centre referee Antony Ogwayo with a warning letter for inconsistency in the application of the laws of the game in Ulinzi’s Top 8 match against AFC leopard played over the weekend. In addition, the committee also resolved to summon centre referee Raymond Onyango to explain his actions in yet another Top 8 match that saw Muhoroni Youth take on Sofapaka.
“In the Muhoroni Youth vs Sofapaka match, the centre referee Raymond Onyango to be summoned in the next committee meeting to defend himself before a decision is made, since It was found that Moses Arita warranted a red card for elbowing an opponent,” read the minutes in part.
In regard to Arita’s actions, the meeting resolved that the striker be suspended for two matches with the Kenyan Premier League being tasked with informing the player before the club’s next match; meaning he will sit out of this afternoon’s clash with Gor Mahia at the Moi Stadium, Kisumu.
The committee also took issue with centre referee Peter Waweru’s failure to honour pre-match meetings as required and warned that stern action would be taken against the official if he trend persists. However, in an effort aimed at improving checks and balances, the meeting resolved to come up with a code of regulation to act as a guideline in dealing with poor officiating and introduce a score sheet to aid in evaluation of referees and match commissioners performance.
It was also agreed that issuing of certificates to newly recruited referees should be centralised, with each referee required to pay Sh1000 to the national office for the certificate and classification.