Maseno RFC to serve four home game ban in Nationwide league

Maseno University RFC are set to serve a four-game home ban when the 2021/2022 Kenya Rugby Union (KRU) Nationwide league campaign kicks off this weekend Saturday 4 December.

This is after the verdict of their disciplinary hearing made back on 25 April 2020 was carried forward to the 2021/2022 league season as the third tier campaign failed to take place last season due to Covid-19 challenges.

In the KRU Nationwide Finals match played on 29th February 2020, a Citam Kisumu player was attacked by home fans which was a breach of Regulation 20.4(a) which states that acts of violence or intimidation within the venue in which the match is being played including (without limitation) the tunnel, changing rooms and/or warm-up areas is the responsibility of the hosts, something the team failed to control.

“At the 77th minute of the game, there was a collision between Maseno player number 11 and Citam Kisumu player number 18, resulting in a confrontation between the two players. Maseno fans stormed the field of play, one of the fans punched Citam player number 18, the player retaliated to the fan while defending himself,” noted the match official report.

In the decision passed, the ban was reduced from six to four games after the disciplinary panel noted the mitigating circumstances that the club put in place immediately after the unruly occurrence.

“Taking into account the mitigating circumstances as outlined below, the Judicial Officer reduces the ban by two (2) games to four (4) games: a. Acknowledgment of guilt; b. Actions to control the situation including from the Maseno RFC Team Manager, Captain and Security Personnel; c. Proposed action plan to mitigate such incidents in future,” the verdict read.

After the four (4) home game ban and prior to reinstatement of home games, the club will be required to demonstrate to the KRU, its compliance to the home ground security requirements of the particular competition they will be competing in and mitigation proposals presented. The team kicks off their season with a match against Sigalagala Institute this weekend.