Nairobi, Kenya: Just when Kenyan football promises to blossom, a spanner is thrown in the works.
Fans, nay, hooligans have resolved to take control of our game. To them, it’s either their way or hit the highway. To them throwing kicks and trading blows comes first.
That was evident on Wednesday night at Nyayo National Stadium as a struggling AFC Leopards took on Chemelil in the Kenyan Premier League Top Eight third quarterfinal. All was well, bar some wanting calls by the referee, much to the chagrin of ‘Ingwe’ fans.
Then with a minute of the regulation time left, Paul Were was brought down in the box, as Leopards faithful appealed for a penalty. It was not to be though.
Instead, Were was booked for diving! And with that, the match officials turned to be the ‘most wanted individuals’ of the night. What followed was akin to scenes only insincere and thankless fans can effect. Pandemonium. Lawlessness. Thuggishness. Name it.
Looking at these scenes, did hooliganism ever really go away? Or are we been hurled back to the grim days of the 1980s, when football stadia were no-go zones for the fainthearted?
Any football fan worth the salt will know that there exist three outcomes in any match – a win, draw or loss. Throw in the referee’s subjective calls and that makes the whole game interesting.
We should also admit that violence would remain a live possibility wherever alcohol and adrenaline mix. The sense of distress was particularly acute as twisted, hate-filled faces of some of Leopards fans chased and kicked around the match officials.
Do people realise how costly football hooliganism is? Win or lose, these clowns just want to cause trouble and tarnish the otherwise good name of AFC Leopards. These goons don’t belong in stadia, but jail. KPL, we are watching.
By Sammy Kitula, The Standard
