AfricaPress-Kenya: Harambee Stars’ chances of participating in the 2022 Fifa World Cup qualifiers could be over with just hours remaining before today’s midnight deadline for Football Kenya Federation (FKF) to pay former coach Adel Amrouche Sh109 million.
Kenya’s fate now lies in the hands of Amrouche and the Fifa’s Disciplinary Committee as the nation waits with bated breath for a final decision from the Switzerland-based body.
FKF was given until April 23 (today) after a 30-day extension to pay the Belgian in full or face sanctions was granted on March 23.
In a terse warning after granting the Federation the extension, the Fifa Disciplinary Committee said: “If the payment is not made to the creditor (Amrouche) and proof of such payment is not provided to the secretariat to the Fifa Disciplinary Committee by the deadline, the present matter will, upon request of the Creditor, be re-submitted to the Disciplinary Committee to impose harsher sanctions on the Football Kenya Federation. The sanctions may lead, amongst others, to expulsion from Fifa competitions.”
The Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) on September 19 last year directed FKF to pay Amrouche the amount as compensation for wrongful dismissal. FKF fired the Belgian in 2014, but was reinstated at the tail-end of Sam Nyamweya’s term in 2016 after the Confederation of African Football (Caf) cleared him of any wrongdoing.
Nick Mwendwa’s regime, however, declined to deal with him leading to the present situation. Amrouche first won his case for wrongful dismissal before Fifa Players Status Committee and later at Court of Arbitration for Sport where he was awarded Sh109million.
And with FKF having failed to settle Amrouche’s dues within the set deadline, the Fifa Disciplinary Committee is expected to give its verdict should Amrouche, who is at liberty to do so, refer the case back to the chamber.
And as Zimbabwe suffered a similar fate for the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, Harambee Stars now stand a real risk of being ejected from the road to Qatar 2022.
Harambee Stars are in Group E of the Qatar qualifiers alongside Mali, Uganda and Rwanda.
Appearing on KTN’s Zilizala Show on Monday, Nick Mwendwa, who the Sports Disputes Tribunal has ruled is no longer legally FKF president said he is ready for Fifa’s verdict after the government declined to commit itself.
“We have written to Fifa again requesting them to extend the payment deadline because the government has not communicated to us on how we will settle the debt, Mwendwa said.
“But I doubt if they will heed to our call because they have given us enough time since October 2019. So, there is a likelihood we will not be able to pay the money on time. This means that Kenya will not participate in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.
“We will just be barred from the World Cup qualifiers, but we will continue participating in the youth and women competitions as well as the Afcon and Chan tournaments. If we are banned, we will accept it and move on.”
Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed is on record saying the government could not pay for the federation’s mistakes.
“This has nothing to do with government. Why is FKF not negotiating with Fifa or the coach (Adel Amrouche) on a payment plan? Amina said on March 11.
She added at the time: “No government in its right senses would fork out Sh109 million to pay an individual for the mistakes of an irresponsible federation. I don’t understand it.”
The CS took issue with the casual manner FKF had managed the coach’s case.
“Why, for instance, did they let go of the coach without consulting the government. And if after losing the case, why did they appeal knowing the consequences of such action given the gravity of the case? she said.
