FKF suspends three referees.

Football Kenya Federation has made the long overdue move to sanction errant referees, and three match officials officiating top flight matches have fallen victim. Joshua Achilla, Collins Opiyo, and Hosea Omondi have been suspended by the FKF Ad Hoc committee for poor decision making during selected SportPesa Premier Leage games this year.

FKF said this through a statement on their official website on Wednesday morning, specified that Omondi and Achila will be required to sit out three league rounds, while Opiyo will be off duty for four rounds of SPL matches. "On two occasions, your decisions on offside have changed the result of matches:"That, you made two crucial decisions which had an impact on the Gor Mahia FC v AFC Leopards FC match played on Feb 9, 2019, at the Kasarani Stadium.

"That you denied Ulinzi Stars FC a goal through a wrong decision during the Sofapaka FC vs Ulinzi Stars FC match which changed the result of the match."Having admitted to the above offence, you are hereby suspended immediately for three rounds of Kenya Premier League calendar matches," a part of the statement sent to Achila and signed by FKF Secretary General Robert Muthomi read.

Achilla, an assistant referee, was reprimanded for two decisions he made during the last Mashemeji Derby where AFC Leopards los 2-0 to Gor Mahia on February 9 at the Moi International Sports Centre in Kasarani. Omondi, on the other hand, was found guilty of failing to issue a red card on K'Ogalo goalkeeper Shaban Odhoji during their match against Sony Sugar in Kisumu.

A review of clips following the match showed that Odhoji handled the ball outside the penalty area thereby clearly denied Sony Sugar a clear goal scoring chance, but was not sanctioned appropriately. The sugar millers ended up recording a 3-2 loss to Gor in that match.

Opiyo has been sanctioned for a separate incident, which had him award a late penalty to Sofapaka, which helped them garner a 1-0 win over KCB on April 14. According to FKF, Umaru Kasumba, who ended up converting the penalty, should have been cautioned for simulation. "After a thorough review of the incident in a video clip that resulted in a penalty, the Committee is convinced that your decision was questionable since it is the attacker who initiated contact after realizing that he had lost possession of the ball in the penalty area," the statement read.

The suspensions come at a time when several SPL coaches and club chairmen have expressed dissatisfaction with the standards of officiating locally. Hassan Oktay of Gor Mahia, Patrick Odhiambo of Sony Sugar, Bandari's Bernard Mwalala, Chemelil Sugar's Francis Baraza and John Baraza of Sofapaka are some of the tacticians who have publicly complained about referees' performance in recent times.