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AFC Leopards chairman Dan Shikanda has blamed the ongoing Football Kenya Federation election heat on their elimination from the FKF Cup tournament.

Ingwe exited the domestic competition in the semi-final after falling to Kenya Police at South C’s sports pavilion. The match was marred by chaos and was abandoned on Saturday, May 26, at around the hour mark.

It was then decided that the remaining 30 minutes would be played on Sunday, May 27, and the Police held to their slim 1-0 lead registered the previous day to progress.

Now, Shikanda has put the exit blame on the ongoing election campaign ahead of FKF’s polls later this year.

“The politics of elections have also marred this fixture, and we decided that even if it was seven players, let them come and honour the fixture, but it is very sad for our football,” Shikanda told the press.

Ingwe played under protest, and Shikanda explained why they ultimately honoured the fixture.

“This is after we had asked them why Kenya Police were telling us we would play the following day and have gone to camp, yet we were with people from the federation who told us they would meet [on Monday] to decide, after which we released our players and told them to wait until Thursday, only to be told at 10 p.m. that there was a meeting and we would play.”

“We came to play today just for formality because they wanted to suspend us from this tournament for three years, which would have been unfair to me and the officials who will come after my term,” Shikanda added.

Officiating concerns

The Ingwe boss added that they have raised concerns over the level of officiating, even in the Premier League.

“We have had problems with officiating for a long time, and when we look at the results for many matches in our league, we have seen what has been happening.

“It is annoying that we received a letter from the Leagues and Competitions Committee after 8 pm,” he concluded.

With the elimination from the cup tournament, Ingwe will finish the season trophyless again. It has not been a smooth season for the giants given that they struggled in the league, especially in the first round, before finding stability in the second round.

Meanwhile, KCB and Police will battle in the FKF Cup final and fight for a ticket to the CAF Confederation Cup next season.

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