The dreams of Kenyan boys advancing to the semi-finals in the International Schools Sports Federation (ISF) World Schools Championships (WSC) in Dalian, China, have been dashed. Their 4-0 quarter-final victory against Qatar was overturned.
In a statement, the Ministry of Education announced that the victory, which would have been Kenya’s most significant win of the tournament, was nullified following a petition by Qatar contesting the inclusion of two Kenyan players in the starting eleven.
“The heartbreaking decision brings to an end what had been the country’s fairytale progress throughout the tournament, registering a series of impressive results,” the statement read. In a stunning turn of events, Qatar received a caution for “unsporting behavior” by the Technical Committee after their apparent loss to Kenya. This was their second caution of the day, following a similar incident involving Croatia after their loss to China.
Undeterred by the loss and the caution, Qatar lodged a complaint with the Technical Commission arbitration panel. They noted that players number 13 and 14 started for Kenya despite being ineligible due to prior consecutive bookings.
“Kenya’s number 13, Elisha Nalianya, who is also the team’s captain, was booked in the 62nd minute of Kenya’s match against Uganda, while number 14, Joseph Ndung’u, was booked earlier in the 37th minute of the same match. Both players had also received yellow cards in Kenya’s first two matches,” the statement added.
After deliberation, the Technical Committee ruled in favor of Qatar, nullifying Kenya’s win and awarding Qatar a 3-0 victory.
Hopes for an appeal by Kenya were quashed after ISF’s Juniors Sports Manager, Justin Legall, revealed that the Kenyan team responded to the decision with a no-contest step. The Kenyan team had erroneously relied on a clause suggesting that cards received in one phase of the competition wouldn’t be in force in a different phase, assuming the suspended players were eligible to play in the quarter-finals.
Despite this setback, the Kenyan team will still compete against New Zealand in a ranking match.
