Nairobi,Kenya:Incidences of fan violence are becoming a common feature during the country’s most loved football derby and Sunday’s meeting at Nyayo National Stadium was no different.
AFC Leopards goalkeeper Patrick Matasia and Gor Mahia’s striker Dan Sserunkuma. PHOTO: STAFFORD ONDEGO/STANDARD
It is a situation that threatens to chase away the few sponsors on-board and puts a damp on efforts to bring back fans to the stadia.
Before Sunday incident, two other matches involving Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards played at NyayoNational Stadium have also been marred in violence.
In March last year, Gor fans threw stones at referee Davis Omweno after he red carded defender Ali Abondo for a rough tackle on Amon Muchiri.
The match had to be stopped for close to ten minutes before it finally resumed and luckily it ended in a barren draw.
The incident forced the Sports Stadia Management Board (SSMB) to ban Gor from playing in any of their facilities for sometime.
In 2011, angry AFC Leopards fans caused the abandonment of a Cup quarter-final match against Gor Mahia.
Match called off
The fans started rioting after Moses Odhiambo had scored for Gor Mahia and this led to the match being called off. As expected, Gor were awarded the win and they went on to lift the Cup competition to represent Kenya in the CAF Confederations Cup.
The latest incident proves that those running football in the country — Kenyan Premier League and Football Kenya Federation (FKF) — have failed to find a lasting solution to the issue and cannot manage to control huge fan base during derbies.
It is worth noting that there were fewer than 50 policeman during Sunday’s ill-fated match and when the announcer kept asking them to form a buffer zone between warring fans early in the match there was no action taken.
Turning point
The goal scored by Dan Sserunkuma in the 74th minute just ignited what was already a tense situation leading to a full scale war in the presence Deputy President William Ruto.
Speaking about the incident yesterday, Football Kenya Federation (FKF) chairman Sam Nyamweya admitted that the security was not up to the task and insisted that Kenyan Premier League, who actually run the league, should have done better.
Nyamweya warned that in future, the federation will not allow the derby to go on unless they are guaranteed of fool-proof security.
“The federation is taking the matter very seriously because we understand that the implications are grave. We do not want people to die simply because of a football match because this may lead to a ban from FIFA.
“In future, we will not allow the derby to go on unless we are satisfied that the required security is in place to avoid a repeat of such violence. We cannot leave it to the clubs to provide security only,” he said.
The federation has come under the spotlight following incidences of insecurity in the stadia.
Three weeks ago, FKF banned for life a fan, who invaded the pitch, during a KPL Top Eight match between Leopards and Chemelil at Nyayo National Stadium.
By GILBERT WANDERA, The Standard
