In a petition lodged with the Confederation of African Football (CAF) pursuant to Article 43 of the CAF Statute, Sonko claims match officials exhibited outright bias and unlawfully disallowed two goals scored by Kenya without reviewing the incidents through VAR or consulting team captains, coaches, or other officials.
“The conduct by the match officials in the Kenya versus Madagascar quarter-final game is greatly prejudicial to the Republic of Kenya and contravenes the spirit of sportsmanship, loyalty, integrity, and ethics,” the petition reads in part.
Through lawyer Arnold Oginga, Sonko argues that the CAF Code defines match officials broadly to include referees, assistant referees, commissioners, inspectors, and other personnel appointed by CAF or FIFA.
He accuses the officials of joint responsibility and conspiring to deny Kenya a fair opportunity to advance to the semi-finals.
Among the remedies sought is the nullification of the decision to disallow the two goals, the annulment of the penalty shootout results, and the awarding of the match to the Harambee Stars. In the alternative, Sonko wants CAF to order a replay of the quarter-final clash.
The petition also demands that the referee and other match officials who oversaw the match be reprimanded for breaching CAF’s Code of Conduct and Statutes.
Kenya’s fairytale run at the African Nations Championship (CHAN) came to an agonizing end on Friday night as Harambee Stars were knocked out in the quarterfinals after a 4-3 penalty shootout defeat to Madagascar at the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani.
