Will APS Bomet be relegated to Division One after failing to honour third match?
All eyes are now on the Football Kenya Federation (FKF)-Leagues & Competitions Committee as to what awaits APS Bomet FC after the South Rift side forfeited a game for a third consecutive time, failing to honour their league fixture against Coast Heroes in Mombasa yesterday.
The no-show in Mombasa is likely to cost the Bomet-based team heavily, because according to the rules of the game, whenever a team fails to honour three matches, it is rendered relegated to the lower league.
APS Bomet who believe that they won the right to be promoted to the Premier League last season after a solid campaign in the second tier, got a rude awakening late last year after the reinstated FKF-National Executive Committee (NEC) declared all leagues under the Caretaker Committee during their suspension from office, were null and void. Following the declaration, FKF decided against the rules of relegation and promotion, thus returning Mathare United, Wazito FC and Vihiga Bullets to the top tier and ensuring the status quo remained.
The team has missed fixtures against Naivas, Fortune Sacco and now Coastal Heroes. “There has also been some push and pull between some players and the management after some proposals to move the club to Nairobi did not augur well with some of the team membership, especially players,” stated an insider who spoke on condition of anonymity to further paint a grim picture of the situation.
FKF is expected to give a substantive verdict on the matter in the coming days according to sources. The Sports Disputes Tribunal (SDT) in a recent ruling, had sided with APS Bomet and Fortune Sacco over the “irrational” decision by FKF to drop the pair for an issue that was not of their own making and ordered their reinstatement to the Premier League.
Former Premier League side Vihiga United also failed to hnour their fixture against Darajani Gogo yesterday, with the Nairobi-based side earning a 2-0 walk over win, while on form Gusii United broke the hearts of local fans at the Wundanyi Stadium when they hammered the hosts 3-1 in a one sided match at the Coastal town. The win has steered Gusii to sixth spot in the table of standings on nine points from four matches, while Mwatate are placed 14th on three points from six matches.
