Ten-time Kenya Cup champions Impala have appealed their relegation from the Kenya Cup for the 2022-2023 season.
The Ngong Road outfit have gone to the Sports Dispute Tribunal(SDT) to get an interpretation after the appeals committee of the union threw out their appeal.
Impala and bitter rivals Quins finished the season on 17 points each in positions 10 and 11 respectively with Nondies finishing bottom of the table.
The union then opted to use the head-to-head rule with Quins surviving the axe on account of beating Impala 29-20 much to the chagrin of Impala who said the competition manual was ambiguous.
They appealed to the KRU Appeals Committee, who upheld the ruling of the fixtures committee with chairman Edward Rombo stating that the appeal lacked merit.
He added that Impala raised concerns at the end of the season yet had agreed to play by the same rules at the start of the season.
Impala vice chairman Charles Mbogo believes the club has a solid case and hopes their plead will be heard by the SDT.
“I believe we have a good case because, at the start of the season, we knew it was going to be about points differential to decide who stays up. But the appeals and fixtures committee opted to go for head-to-head which we feel is not fair,” said Mbogo.
Mbogo, however, said if the ruling is upheld, the club will play in the championship and their target will be to return to the Kenya Cup season.
“We have already started our pre-season with the players and we are preparing for any eventuality,” added Mbogo.
The KRU's League and Fixtures Committee chairman, Hilary Itela, said his committee came up with the determination on the two clubs
Itela cited Clause 5. c of the Kenya Cup League manual while delivering the ruling.
"In making the determination, the guiding principle was the results of the fixture(s) between the two teams takes precedence over the results of the two teams against the rest of the league participants," said Itela.
Itela explained that the committee settled on the fact that the league was shortened and only one match was played as opposed to home and away where better aggregate principle would have played role.
"The principle remains that the results of the fixture between the two teams takes precedence," explained Itela.
