Barely a year after being relegated from the Kenyan Premier League, Zoo Kericho's woes deepened after they pulled out of the country's second-tier competition on Sunday.
In a hard-hitting statement, club honcho Ken Ochieng’ enumerated an array of factors that informed their drastic decision.
“Having been aggrieved by the manner in which the NSL has been hitherto organised and run by the FKF Transition Committee and its predecessor the FKF Caretaker Committee, we alongside eight other Petitioners filed the SDTSC NO. E021 OF 2022 suit, which has since attracted 10 other teams from the Kenyan Premier League and the Division One who have joined the same as interested parties. The said suit is still pending determination,” the statement read in part.
“As a club, we have been victims of match manipulation, poor officiating, and unfair /delayed findings on our match-day protests. We thus deem our continued participation in an already contaminated league at the expense of our unresolved grievances as a waste of time and our hard-earned meagre resources in the absence of sponsorship. Technically the said league is a nullity.
“It's one fight we can't win on our own. In view of the above, we hereby immediately withdraw from the FKFTC-organised NSL 2021 -2022 season.
Ochieng’ further said they are against a contentious decision reached by Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed to extend the term of the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Transition Committee for a further two months.
“As such, we are saddened by the actions of the CS via the Gazette Notice No. 7005 in extending the mandate of the Transition Committee.”
It is the second time in history that the club is locking horns with league administrators. Zoo experienced a similar fate last year when they found themselves at loggerheads with the expelled Nick Mwendwa-led FKF over broadcast rights disputes.
The waters became murkier when the club was sent packing from the top tier after the world football governing body, Fifa, found them guilty of match-fixing.
