Awcon 2022: Ex-FKF’s Otieno acted illegally in withdrawing Harambee Starlets - CAS

The Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) has ruled that the former Football Kenya Federation secretary-general Barry Otieno acted illegally by withdrawing Harambee Starlets from the 2022 Africa Women's Cup of Nations (Awcon) qualifiers.

Kenya were to take on the Crested Cranes in the second round of qualifiers, but as the Nick Mwendwa administration was at loggerheads with the Ministry of Sports then, Otieno wrote a letter to Caf informing them they were not in a position to host their neighbours.

Consequently, Uganda qualified without breaking a sweat, but the move by the then FKF official has now been dismissed by the Zurich-based body.

"As to the merits, the sole arbitrator ruled that the decision rendered on January 20, 2022, by Mr. Barry Otieno, former CEO of FKF, on behalf of the FKF, was to be set aside as it had been issued ‘ultra vires’, i.e. by a person who was no longer entitled to act on behalf of the FKF," said a letter by CAS in possession of GOAL.

"Since no appeal has been filed against the Caf decision to qualify Uganda for the next qualifying round, the CAS could not review it."

The 22 football players of the women's national football team of Kenya with FKF, and Caf lodged the appeal that the Federation of Uganda Football Associations (Fufa) was enjoined.

The court, however, ruled they were not in a position to order Caf to replay the qualifier between the Cecafa nations.

"The CAS arbitrator in charge of this matter ruled that CAS had jurisdiction to rule on the appeal filed by the 22 players on February 18, 2022, against the FKF decision but did not have jurisdiction to rule on the request to order the Caf to reinstate the Kenya women's national football team to the Awcon and to rearrange the matches against Uganda in the second Awcon qualifying round before the start of the Awcon finals group stage on July 2, 2022," it added.

Kenya, who are under Fifa suspension following what the world governing body termed as 'interference by a third party', were to host their neighbours on February 17, while the second leg had been scheduled for February 23.