Caf imposes ban on FKF CEO Barry Otieno after Comoros incident

BetOdds Africa Cup of Nations Qualification Comoros v Kenya Kenya Comoros

The African body has moved to ban the two Kenyan officials after they allegedly tore apart a PCR tests report for Covid-19

Confederation of African Football has imposed a ban on Football Kenya Federation CEO Barry Otieno after he allegedly tore apart PCR tests copies of the Kenyan team during their African Cup of Nations qualifier against Comoros.

According to a statement from Caf and obtained by Goal, the African body has handed the Kenyan CEO a six-month ban from all football-related activities and also imposed the same on the team’s team manager Ronny Oyando.

“On the day of the match the General Secretary of the Comoros Football Federation came in early to take their PCR tests, and he was met with refusal from the Kenyan national team’s management, they delayed the process for three hours until they finally gave in,” read the statement from Caf.

“The test results arrived just a few minutes before kick-off, during warm-up, due to the said delay. The Commissioner did not get the chance to check the results himself as Barry Otieno, the General Secretary of the Football Kenya Federation, and Ronny Oyando, the Kenyan team manager disputed the results as soon as they have become aware of them and snatched them from his hands and tore them apart.

“According to the PCR tests copies that were acquired after the match, four players have all tested positive before the match yet took part in the game and risked the contamination of the opposing team as well as their fellow teammates and all officials that were involved in match 94 of the Total African Cup of Nations Qualifiers.”

The statement continued: “In terms of Caf Statutes and Regulations, in terms of the Covid-19 FAQs and in terms of Articles 82, 83, 133, 134 and 98 of Caf Disciplinary Code, the Caf Disciplinary Board has decided to: impose a ban of 6 [six] months on Otieno from all football activities relating to Caf, impose a ban of 6 [six] months on Oyando from all football activities relating to Caf and impose upon your Federation a financial sanction of 20.000 USD [Twenty Thousand US Dollars approximately Ksh2million].”

When reached for comment, FKF CEO Otieno told Goal he was not aware of the decision taken by Caf but will consult internally to come up with the next step.

“I have just learnt about the allegations and will be consulting internally on the next steps,” Otieno told Goal on Saturday.

“Nonetheless, I wish to state that everyone who was present, during the incident, including the Match Commissioner, know that what has been alleged is not true, that notwithstanding Caf has made a decision and as a member, we will comply with it.”

Kenya lost the game 2-1 with Cliff Nyakeya scoring the lone goal.

2021-01-23 10:00:04

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