World football governing body Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) has threatened to suspend football activities in Kenya again after the High Court stopped the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Annual General Meeting.
FIFA Chief Member Associations Officer, Kenny Jean-Marie in a letter on Wednesday, March 27 directed FKF CEO Barry Otieno to proceed with the AGM despite the court order.
“In view of the foregoing, the FKF is directed to conduct its Annual General Meeting soon and to continue working towards conducting the FKF elections scheduled to be held this year,” read the letter in part.
The global body warned that any further interference of the FKF AGM would be considered a violation of FIFA Statutes.
According to FIFA, disputes within the FKF or affecting leagues, members of leagues, clubs, members of clubs, players, officials, and other FKF officials shall not be submitted to ordinary courts unless the FIFA regulations, or binding legal provisions that specifically provide for or stipulate recourse to an ordinary court.
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“We further wish to underline that a violation of this obligation by the FKF or its members may lead to sanctions as provided for in the FIFA Statutes, including a possible suspension,” Jean-Marie stated.
“A suspended member association loses all its membership rights, as defined in article 13 of the FIFA Statutes, with immediate effect and until further notice. Likewise, the representative teams as well as the affiliated clubs of this federation can no longer take part in international competitions until the suspension has been lifted.”
The High Court had suspended the FKF AGM pending a hearing and determination of a petition filed by sports journalist Milton Nyakundi. The AGM was scheduled to take place on March 16.
In 2022, FIFA banned Kenya after The Ministry of Sports disbanded FKF over alleged misappropriation of funds and appointed a caretaker committee.
The ban was lifted nine months later following the reinstatement of the FKF executive committee by Sports CS Ababu Namwamba.
