NAIROBI, January 26, 2014
Kisumu RFC team failed to fulfill the Kenya Cup fixture vs Impala Saracens over the weekend, at the Impala Club, Ngong – Impala Saracens’ home. As a result, Impala Saracens receive a bonus point win.
Technically, Kisumu should have be knocked out of the competition however the Kenya Cup organisers and the Kenyan RU have been lenient . They remain in the Cup because the Spirit of The Game must be upheld and it has been agreed that Kisumu should continue to be able to compete however they have been deducted points and now sit on -8.
The Gazelles have now got to 9th position, with 18 points – 12 points behind Mwamba RFC (8th). The club has three tricky fixtures remaining against Western Bulls, Mean Machine RFC and Mombasa SC. The Bulls sit 7th on the table (28 points), Mean Machine (11th, 13 points), with a match in hand against Kisumu. Mombasa tie on points with Mean Machine with poorer points difference.
Kisumu will now certainly be relegated while Eldoret RFC have a theoretical chance of avoiding the sword.
“At the start of last season, we advised that it would be well-nigh impossible for the Union to sustainably support the operations of clubs, in the absence of a concrete corporate partnership. That, great ideas must be matched with resources. It seems Kisumu and Eldoret based their campaigns on Union promises which were always going to be difficult to honour,” said Gangla.
“The Union’s national team resource requirements just don’t make it viable for it to concentrate on detailed club needs. This is even before we consider the massive under-resourcing of age grade and other development needs that the Union is best suited for. We continue to drive for a platform to discuss purely club needs, especially Kenya Cup ones”.
