President Uhuru Kenyatta suspends sporting activities indefinitely

Sporting activities in the country have been suspended indefinitely following new Covid-19 restriction measures released by President Uhuru Kenyatta on Thursday.

The move is part of concerted efforts by the government to curb the spread of coronavirus with the third wave hitting the country hard this month.

According to President Uhuru, the number of Covid-19 confirmed cases in January was 4,380 but this has now shot to 15,916 by March 21 - translating to a positivity rate of 22 percent, up from 2.6 percent at the end of January.

Rising death rate

Similarly, the death rate has risen from three deaths per day between January and February to seven per day in March, the highest since the pandemic hit the country.

"That all sporting activities are hereby suspended, similarly operations of sporting and recreational facilities including members clubs are suspended until it is otherwise directed," said Uhuru during his address reiterating that the new measures come into effect from Friday midnight.

As a result, key sports in the country which had already resumed like football, athletics, rugby, basketball, volleyball, and handball will be forced to cancel their fixtures until further notice.

The latest ban will certainly be a big blow to sportspeople in the country having just resumed local league matches this year after sitting out of action since March 2020 when the first case was reported in Kenya.

It happens at a time the national football team, Harambee Stars that is in camp, is set to leave the country on Saturday on a chartered flight to Lome where they are due to face Togo in their last Group G of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match on Monday.

Local leagues affected

The 2021 FKF Premier League (KPL) was almost nearing the end of the first leg with Tusker in the lead with 36 points followed by KCB (30) and AFC Leopards (29).

Already, Kenya Rugby Union (KRU) has suspended the Kenya Cup rugby league that was due to enter the fourth round in Nairobi and Kakamega on Saturday. The league had resumed after 11 months on February 27 this year.

The 2016 Kenya Cup champions Kabras Sugar had taken command of the league lead with 15 points, having won their three opening matches with bonus points.

Kenya Sevens and Kenya Lionesses are in the United Arab Emirates for the Dubai International Invitational Sevens tournament that will run in two legs. The first leg goes down April 2 to 4 followed by the second leg on April 9 to 10 all taking place at The Sevens Stadium.

The rugby teams were part of Team Kenya for the Tokyo Olympic Games that has been under “bubble” training at the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani for almost a month.

Kenya Volleyball Federation (KVF) National League is also midway through the season with Kenya Prisons leading the women’s standings while Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) top the men’s log.

Athletics Kenya, who were privileged to be among the first federations to be allowed to host athletics events in September last year after the lockdown was eased, had also deferred their trials for the World Relay Championships planned for Saturday.

AK has 34 sprinters and field events athletes at the Olympic "bubble"training.