AFC Leopards have blamed lack of enough security officers for the hooliganism witnessed on Saturday during the Mashemeji derby at the Kasarani Stadium.
Leopards, who lost the encounter 2-0 to their arch rivals Gor Mahia, have also pointed an accusing finger at the referee for sparking the mayhem with his poor calls.
“A derby is a high risk match and we believe that police officers were not deployed as per the requirements of a match of such magnitude,” the club’s statement partly reads.
Gor’s coach Dylan Kerr has also not been spared in the blame game with Leopards’ executive committee calling him out for incitement.
The Malta-born Englishman reportedly flashed out the middle finger sign at the opposing fans.
“The actions of our counterparts coach after the second goal should be discouraged as it doesn’t show sportsmanship and only acts to incite fans.”
But more interestingly the 12-time Kenyan champions have distanced themselves from hooligans who were video tapped uprooting seats and hurling them onto the field.
“The hooligans who were pictured destroying seats at the stadium are not members of our club and we have engaged members who can identify them to help bring them to book for tainting the image of the club,” the club says.
The chaos started towards the end of the first half following Gor’s second goal whose build up saw the ref ignore Samuel Onyango’s double clutch challenge on Lukooya Baker.
Bernard Ondiek proceeded to score off Boniface Omondi’s assist while Lukooya was still down writhing in pain.
Angered by the ref’s decision to allow play-on, Leopards’ fans vented their frustrations by uprooting and throwing plastic seats onto the pitch.
Read: Gor Mahia Unhappy With Godfrey Walusimbi’s ‘Illegal’ Move To South Africa’s Club
The technical bench was also not left out as Argentine coach Rodolfo Zapata and his backroom staff accosted the match officials in protest, leading to delay in restart by over ten minutes.
Sports Kenya, the body mandated to take care of the stadium and other national sporting facilities, has since indicated that they are assessing the extent of the damage before they fine the clubs.
Kenyan Premier League disciplinary body has also ceased of the matter with possible sanctions expected.
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