Incidences of hooliganism and age cheating at the ongoing Kenya Secondary Schools Sports Association (KSSSA) Regional Term Two games must be condemned.
The ugly scenes of hooliganism returned to haunt the Nyanza Region Secondary Schools games on Friday after Matutu PAG Secondary School knocked out Agoro Sare 2-0 in the semi-finals played at Cardinal Otunga Mosocho.
Agoro Sare fans stormed the pitch to attack match officials and Matutu fans, an incident that left Matutu’s coach Joseph Ongoro seriously injured. The region’s girls’ football semi-final match between defending champions St Mary’s Lwak Girls and Nyakach Girls was delayed due to the chaos, although Nyakach went on to win 1-0.
Incidences of age cheating also cropped up in the Rift Valley where St Anthony Kitale failed in their appeal against St Joseph’s Boys Kitale, who they had accused of age-cheating after losing 2-0 in the Trans Nzoia County finals.
Cases of hooliganism and age cheating have been witnessed in the term two games right from sub-county, county to regional levels.
We once again call on KSSSA and other stakeholders to find ways of addressing these vices to uphold the integrity and credibility of the games.
The essence of these games is to tap and mould talent and not a stage for unscrupulous people to further their interests.
Football competitions in Nyamira, Kisii, Kisumu, Siaya, Mombasa, Kakamega and Trans Nzoia are some of the places where crowd trouble and fielding of over-age and ineligible players have been rampant.
That is why it is important for KSSSA to collaborate with the ministries of Education and Sports to stem these incidents. School heads, teachers, coaches, students and parents who are involved in these fraudulent acts should not go unpunished.
