AFC Leopards chairman Dan Shikanda has urged his team's diehard supporters to attend Sunday's Mashemeji derby against arch-rivals Gor Mahia at Nyayo Stadium.
This follows a meeting between club officials and Cabinet Secretary for Sports Ababu Namwamba on Saturday.
"We have had some serious discussions with Cabinet Secretary for Sports Ababu Namwamba, and he has asked us to request that our fans come to the stadium during the Mashemeji derby," Shikanda stated.
Shikanda requested that the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) look into and resolve the crowd disturbances that occurred during their Kenyan Premier League match against Kakamega Homeboyz.
"Whether the offenders are from AFC or Homeboyz, the Bukhungu incident needs to be investigated and suitable disciplinary action must be taken against them. Shikanda stated.
"We have been promised that everything would be put on hold for the time being, including the decision to dock us three points and impose a punishment of Sh500,000."
Shikanda made an effort to dissociate the team from rioting by claiming that FKF had wrongfully dragged their technical bench during the mayhem that rocked their match against Homeboyz in Bukhungu.
"We are urging our fans to come in large numbers tomorrow just to honour the call made by the CS. We condemn hooliganism and we want justice done. Our position as a club is that there was no security at Bukhungu Stadium on that fateful day. So it's very wrong for them to blame our technical bench," Shikanda said.
Shikanda said it is terrible that their opponents have not been showing up to the disciplinary meetings to find out exactly what transpired.
"That gives them away as guilty, without a doubt. As a club, we detest hooliganism and do not want it to be a staple of Kenyan football," he stated.
"We had built a niche where our fans could come with their families and once there is hooliganism, they will be chased away," Shikanda observed.
"We are just checking to ensure justice prevails and football triumphs at the end of the day. If we put a blanket blame on a club without any investigations, that s killing Kenyan football," he added.
