AFC Leopards and Kakamega Homeboyz are facing potential heavy fines following incidents of fan trouble that occurred during their Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Premier League clash at Bukhungu Stadium on Sunday.
The match was abandoned when Homeboyz was leading 1-0 as unrest erupted among the fans, and the finger of blame was directed towards Leopards’ fans, who allegedly caused the abandonment of the match due to their dissatisfaction with the officiating.
The match started positively, with Homeboyz taking the lead in the 24th minute with a goal by Hillary Otieno, assisted by Eston Esiye from the midfield.
However, the game came to an abrupt halt in the 34th minute when Kakamega Homeboyz goalkeeper, Farouk Shikalo, handled the ball outside the box, and Leopards’ fans demanded that he be shown a red card.
Despite the fans’ demands, the center referee did not send off Shikalo, which angered the Leopards’ fans. This led to hundreds of passionate Leopards fans storming the pitch and attacking the referee, resulting in the match being abandoned.
Videos shared on social media showed chaotic scenes, with Leopards and Homeboyz players exchanging blows and some fans throwing stones at each other.
Kakamega Governor Ferdinand Barasa, who was present at the match, took to Twitter to condemn the incident, stating that football is meant to unite, not create barriers that hinder peaceful co-existence.
According to FKF match regulations, a club will forfeit any match which was abandoned because of the misconduct of their members or supporters.
This means that if it is found that Leopards’ fans were at fault, all three points will go to Homeboyz, and no replay will happen as demanded by Leopards’ officials.
“The FKF National Leagues and Competitions Committee has the discretionary power to take other disciplinary action against clubs for gross or repeated misconduct by the officials, players or supporters of their club,” reads part of the FKF Regulations.
“For example, the club may be suspended, fined and/or relegated if their players accumulate an excessive number of warnings and cards for misconduct or their players, officials and/or supporters are considered responsible for the abandonment of one or more matches in a league or competition organised or authorised by the FKF.”
This is not the first time that Leopards has faced such a situation. In 2017, they were ordered to pay a fine of Sh150,000 for incidents of crowd violence involving Homeboyz when their fans were deemed to have caused the abandonment of a league match at Mumias Complex in August 2016.
However, Homeboyz may also not be off the hook.
According to FKF rules, it is an offense of misconduct if a team fails to provide adequate security at its venue.
