The Ingwe official claims the 2019/20 season faced a lot of difficult situations and could have been declared void
The best decision the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) would have taken was to annul the Kenyan Premier League (KPL), AFC Leopards chairman Dan Shikanda has stated.
Shikanda took issue with FKF’s move to cancel the league and awarding Gor Mahia the title.
He further says the move was rather rushed and the stakeholders were not involved consequently leading to a lot of questions being raised on the integrity of FKF’s decision.
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“Football is won on the pitch and that is why Fifa are trying what they can to ensure the matches are won fairly on the pitch,” Shikanda told Radio Jambo.
“We have been affected by the coronavirus just like anyone else in the world but we were quick to make conclusions instead of waiting to see how things would have panned out. In all the countries that cancelled their leagues, at least stakeholders were involved.
“Even Gor Mahia would not enjoy being given the title the way they were. They had the best chances to win it on the pitch.
“The best way was to annul the league because we had 10 matches to go. Gor Mahia and Bandari, therefore, could have been allowed to represent the country in Caf competitions.
“There is a big difference winning the title on the pitch and being given one.”
The former AFC Leopards and Gor Mahia player also took issue with the time when all teams played their 16 matches that influenced the decision by the federation.
“There was no given time that all teams had played 16 matches. Teams reached there at different times and in football fairness counts a lot,” explained Shikanda.
“Gor Mahia played their last three matches one month after the other teams, making the whole issue even more tricky. By the time Gor Mahia were playing their 16th match, they had not honoured some of their first leg matches.
“Going forward, we will make sure this thing does not happen again.”
The relegation of Sony Sugar from the top-tier after failing to honour three matches is another issue which Shikanda feels should have guided FKF to annul the KPL altogether.
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“If you look at our league this year, it just needed to be annulled especially looking at all the circumstances we have gone through including the expulsion of Sony Sugar,” he concluded.
“Teams had 10 matches to play and some were dearly fighting against relegation.”
Chemelil Sugar were relegated while Kisumu All-Stars will be engaged in the play-offs against Vihiga United to determine their KPL status. Nairobi City Stars and Bidco United benefited from the decision as they were promoted.
