The Kenya Basketball Federation (KBF) has taken the decision to suspend all league activities in compliance with an order issued by the Sports Disputes Tribunal (SDT), as confirmed by Secretary-General Ambrose Kisoi.
League matches had recently commenced, but they are now on hold until a case presented before the John Ohaga-led Tribunal can be heard and resolved.
The order emanated from a petitioner named Dennis Opiyo, whose concerns stem from the KBF’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) held on May 14.
Kisoi explained, “The petitioner had earlier gone to the Tribunal over issues regarding the AGM. The Tribunal instructed us to take certain actions, which we did.
They required us to submit copies of audited accounts and seek ratification from the Sports Registrar on the list of delegates. We complied with these requests, but the petitioner returned to the Tribunal, leading to this order.”
The Secretary-General has communicated the decision to suspend games to all clubs. The case will be mentioned at the Tribunal on September 19.
Kisoi added, “We have forwarded the issue to our legal department, but, of course, we have to comply with court orders. We hope, however, that this matter can be resolved expeditiously.”
In the meantime, it has been revealed that the dispute centres around leadership conflicts within the Federation. Some players, speaking anonymously, have expressed their disappointment with the situation.
“It is the players who will ultimately suffer. The dispute seems to be primarily about positions within the Federation and not much else. While we acknowledge there are issues at the top, it shouldn’t affect the matches to this extent,” one player stated.
