Kenyan boys’ hopes of advancing to the semi-finals in the International Schools Sports Federation (ISF) football World Schools Championships (WSC) in Dalian, China, have been dashed. Despite securing a 4-0 victory in the quarter-finals against Asian representatives Qatar, their triumph was overturned.
The Ministry of Education released a statement indicating that the Friday win, which would have been Kenya’s most significant achievement in the tournament, was nullified following a petition filed by the Qatar team. The petition contested the eligibility of two players in Kenya’s starting eleven.
“The heartbreaking decision brings to an end what had been the country’s fairytale progress throughout the tournament, registering a series of impressive results,” the statement read.
In a surprising turn of events, it was revealed that Qatar had received a caution for “Unsporting behavior” by the Technical Committee after their reaction to what seemed like a defeat to Kenya. This caution marked the second of its kind on the same day, with Croatia also receiving one for their behavior following a loss to China.
Despite this setback, Qatar remained resilient and undeterred. They proceeded to file a complaint with the Technical Commission arbitration panel, demonstrating their determination to contest the outcome of the match.
“They noted that players number 13 and 14 had started for the Kenyan side, despite the fact that they had received prior consecutive bookings which deemed them ineligible for the quarter-final match,” the statement said.
“Kenya’s number 13 is Elisha Nalianya, who is also the team’s captain, and had been booked in the 62nd minute of Kenya’s match against Uganda, while number 14, Joseph Ndung’u, had been booked earlier during the first half of the same match in the 37th minute. Similarly, the pair had been yellow-carded in Kenya’s first two matches,” the statement added.
After deliberation the Technical Committee ruled in favour of Qatar, squashing Kenya’s win and giving Qatar a 3-0 win judgment.
Hopes for any possible appeal by Kenya were dashed after a statement by ISF’s Juniors Sports Manager Justin Legall, revealed that the Africans had responded to the decision with a no-contest step.
Apparently, the Kenyan team erroneously relied on a clause which implied that effects of cards received in one phase of the competition wouldn’t be in force in a different phase of the competition. Thus, they assumed that the suspended players were free to play in the quarters.
Nevertheless, all is not lost. Although their progress further ahead has been halted, the team will still play New Zealand in a ranking match.
