Dark Christmas for Lakers players, officials after lengthy bans
Lakers celebrate a goal during their Kenya Hockey Union Women's Premier League match against Sliders at City Park on October 1, 2022.
What you need to know:
- In Blantyre, Blazers settled for silver as GRA and Nigeria’s Delta Queens clinched gold and bronze, respectively.
Lakers Hockey Club could be facing the beginning of its end after collectively being handed a hefty fine of Euros 6,000 (Sh1,025,247) by the Africa Hockey Federation (AfHF) for misconduct during the 25th edition of Africa Cup of Clubs Championships (ACCC) held in Blantyre, Malawi between November 18 and 26.
The community-based sports club from Kisumu County fielded ineligible players in the tournament and interrupted the final match between Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and former champions Blazers from Kenya, forcing AHF President Seif Ahmed to toss the coin that saw the Ghanaian side retain the title.
“Prior to the final match, the tournament director had communicated to the team that following investigations, they had fielded non-registered players thus led to their disqualification and were not to play in the finals as earlier planned,” read a communique sent from AfHF President Seif Ahmed to Kenya Hockey Union President Nashon Randiek.
Following the AfHF executive board meeting in Malawi in November after the tournament to discuss the conduct of Kisumu Lakers women club, the club will suffer a financial sanction of Euros 2,000 (Sh341,649), to be paid to AfHF before end of March 2024.
Further, Lakers team officials John Paul Otieno (team manager), Austin Antony Onyango (head coach), Elizabeth Awuor Obong’o (assistant coach) and Robert Oketch (assistant team manager) have also been handed a five-year ban from all hockey activities (local and international) for five years.
The four officials also face a financial sanction of Euros 1,000 (Sh170,823) each, to be paid to AfHF before March 2024.
All the Lakers players on the team sheet during the tournament in Malawi, regardless of whether they were registered by Lakers or in other clubs, have been banned from all forms of hockey (local and international) for one year.
Following the communication from AfHF, Kenya Hockey Union (KHU) summoned the officials and players from Lakers Club and transmitted the resolutions and sanctions on the December 22.
The affected parties can lodge their appeals to AfHF through the Kenya Hockey Union Executive Board.
All bans are effective December 8.
Formed in 2017, Kisumu Lakers first featured in the second tier in 2018 before earning promotion to Premier League in 2019. The team competed in the African competition for the first time in Nairobi in February this year.
Lakers made a strong start in Blantyre, but hit a dead end after Blazers, Ghana Revenue Authority, Delta Queens of Nigeria successfully filed a complaint on eligibility of some of their players.
In Blantyre, Blazers settled for silver as GRA and Nigeria’s Delta Queens clinched gold and bronze, respectively.
Sharkia (Egypt), Western Jaguars (Kenya) and Kampala (Uganda) finished first, second and third in that order in the men’s category.
