Wrangles hit Kenya soccer over management

NAIROBI, May 19 (Xinhua) -- Fresh wrangles have hit the management of the Kenya Football Federation (KFF) with rival groups moving to court to bar another group from assuming the control of the game in the country.

World football governing body FIFA-backed KFF chairman Mohammed Hatimy moved to court on Monday to challenge a ruling made last week barring him and his group from running the affairs of the troubled football governing body.

Hatimy filed an appeal under a certificate of urgency seeking to review an order by Justice Hatari Waweru delivered on May 16, which ousted him from the leadership of KFF.

Hatimy argued that the application was incompetent, that the court lacks jurisdiction to hear the application, the suit is not proper, they were not properly served with sermons and that the application was an abuse of office.

His lawyer Judith Aulo told High court Judge, Justice Alnashir Visram, that her client was seeking "urgent review" of the ruling since the world soccer governing body, FIFA, had no one to communicate with in Kenya.

Soccer pundits have expressed disappointment over the turn of events, saying the world soccer body would again slap a ban on the KFF from participating in international competition.

She argued that the question of the federation's leadership was already before the court and had not been settled.

Justice Visram certified the application as urgent, and asked Aulo to mention it before trial Judge, Justice Hatari Waweru on Wednesday.

Justice Waweru had stated in his ruling last week that chairman Sam Nyamweya, vice chair, Twaha Mbarak and Secretary General, Peter Ochiel were the bona fide officials of KFF.

"Football in Kenya is an important sport and it cannot be gain-said that that the affairs of the football governing body can be run by strangers," Justice Waweru ruled.

He observed that the Hatimy led faction had wrongly and illegally constituted itself as genuine officials of KFF.

"The material before the court at the interlocutory stage establishes, prima facie that the plaintiffs, and not the defendants, are not the bona fide officials of KFF," Justice Waweru ruled.