• The tribunal issued stay orders against FKF President Nick Mwendwa and General Secretary Barry Otieno until the matter is heard on May 26 and determined.
• Gor were controversially declared the 2019/20 champions by the FKF and consequently were entered as the representatives in the Caf Champions League.
The Kenyan Premier League can afford a sigh of relief after successfully obtaining orders from the Sports Disputes Tribunal to temporarily suspend the decision by FKF to controversially conclude the 2019-2020 season.
The tribunal's chairman John Ohaga issued stay orders against Football Kenya Federation President Nick Mwendwa and the General Secretary Barry Otieno until the matter is heard on May 26 and determined.
Ohaga made the ruling following an application by KPL and Chemelil Sugar.
"Pending the hearing and determination of this application and/or the Petition inter partes, the purported decision of the Respondents cancelling the Kenyan Premier League 2019/2020 Season he and is hereby stayed;" read part of the orders from the tribunal.
Ohaga has also invited all the 18 clubs playing their trade in the top league to have their say on the matter before directing that the respondents who are FKF, Mwendwa and Otieno, be served through digital platforms.
Gor were controversially declared the 2019/20 champions by the Football Kenya Federation and consequently were entered as the representatives in the Caf Champions League.
At the mid-way mark (16 matches), Gor had gathered 38 points while Tusker were second with 34. Chemelil Sugar sat at the tail-end with four points, trailing Kisumu All-Stars who were above them by four points.
FKF's decision did not sit well with KPL, who in a rejoinder insisted that they had not been consulted before the decision was made yet they are mandated by law to run the top flight on behalf of the federation.
KPL’s chief executive officer Jack Oguda heavily criticised FKF for interfering with the running of the top flight.
“The lack of consistency in the federation’s stand on the fate the two competitions implies; a selective application of the rules; the selective interpretation of Caf’s letter and disregard of the hard work put in by KPL teams to reach where they are in the current 2019/20 league standings. This amounts to a breach of the KPL mandate in the running of the league through interfering with the management of its affairs,” said Oguda in a letter to the federation.
Chemelil Sugar Chairman Moses Adagala criticised Mwendwa for failing to consult relevant stakeholders.
He accused him of running a one-man show despite Caf giving his office (all federations) May 5 as the deadline to submit the status of the local competitions on how they had been affected by the coronavirus.
“We will wait to hear from Fifa on the fate of our leagues. Mwendwa is playing politics as he did not consult before making such an announcement,” he said.