Neither will the top tier be canceled nor will Gor Mahia be declared champions in the current season, Football Kenya Federation President Nick Mwendwa has said.
The FKF honcho was furious after reports emerged in a local publication on Sunday that the federation had reached a decision to cancel the league and declare Gor Mahia champions, thus handing them the ticket to represent Kenya in the CAF Champions League.
“I have not said anything like crowning Gor Mahia if the current season is canceled. We are not ready to cancel the season. What I know is that the league will be played to conclusion and we will have a rightful winner,” said Mwendwa.
Mwendwa told Goal.com that his statement about Gor Mahia being Kenya's representatives at the forthcoming Kagame Cup in August had completely been misconstrued.
“It's unfortunate they wrote what I did not say. They have just misquoted me. But let me put it clearly... By virtue of winning the league last season, Gor Mahia will be our flag bearer in the Kagame Cup set for August,” said Mwendwa.
The current season was put on hold after the government effected an indefinite ban on all sporting activities in the country as part of its measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
Following the ban, local football fans had begun speculating about the possibility of Gor Mahia being crowned champions if the league wouldn't resume at all.
The FKF boss whipped up controversy in 2019 after he unilaterally canceled the top and second-tier leagues and declared Gor and City Stars winners respectively.
According to Clause 2.6 of the FKF statutes on failure to complete the league, if the league is called off as things stand now, Gor Mahia would be the automatic champions.
“Where the league format due to circumstances of force majeure fails to be completed within the season, the league winner shall be determined as follows;
“Before each and every club has completed its first-round fixtures, the league shall be declared null and void. Where all the clubs in the league have completed their first-round fixtures but less than 75 percent league games have been played, the table standing at the end of the first round shall be considered the final standings of the league."
“Where at least one club has played more than 75 percent of the league games, the following formula shall be used to determine the table standing for the respective group;
“The total points earned from the number of games played multiplied by the total number of games supposed to be played divided by the number of games played,” read the statutes.
The current season had seen only 16 rounds played before the stoppage. Each team should play at least 17 matches to complete the first round.
