Kenya could seek to stop AWCON in fresh appeal

The national football governing body, Football Kenya Federation (FKF), has launched an appeal against the exclusion of the national women’s team from the 2018 AWCON Finals in Cameroon.

FKF said it was ‘profoundly astonished’ by the CAF Appeal Board’s decision to reinstate Equatorial Guinea after Kenya had won an appeal to have it disqualified for fielding an ineligible player.

With only nine days left before AWCON kick-off, FKF added it will seek to have the commencement of the continental fiesta halted altogether until its appeal has been heard and determined by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

“We have written to CAF expressing our displeasure with the November 7, 2018 ruling and initiated an appeal process.

“It is our belief that both CAF and CAS will treat the matter with the seriousness that it deserves, this even as Harambee Starlets remain in camp in preparation for our AWCON opening fixture against Zambia scheduled for November 18,” a statement from the FKF said in part.

Kenya’s Harambee Starlets had suffered an aggregate 3-2 loss to Equatorial Guinea in the qualification round but filed a successful eligibility protest over a player fielded by the West Central African state.

However, the decision was overruled Wednesday night after Equatorial Guinea won the appeal in which CAF’s Appeal Board declared the player, Annette Jacky Messomo, was indeed eligible to play for Equatorial Guinea.

“The appeal lodged by the Federación Ecuatoguineana de Fútbol is admissible…The National Team of Equatorial Guinea is reintegrated in the Total African Women’s Cup of Nations 2018,” CAF said in a statement published on its website.

FKF maintained that its stand that Messomo is ineligible to play for the Equatorial Guinea women football team had not changed as ‘she is not a bona-fide citizen of the country, having lived and played all her football in Cameroon and Europe.’