Drama erupted during a rugby match between Shamas Foundation and Catholic Monks on Sunday, March 20, after a match official was assaulted.
The Kenya Rugby Union (KRU) has come out to condemn incident following an attack on the referee by Shamas Foundation players during the Championship semifinal clash.
Shamas players felt aggrieved and went after the referee, accusing him of poor officiating.
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Center referee Saidi Kenya received heavy blows from Shams player before the assistant referees came to his rescue.
In a statement, KRU announced that a disciplinary process has been initiated with the judgement set to be made public in due course.
“The Kenya Rugby Union strongly condemns the physical attack on centre referee Saidi Kenya during the KRU Championship semifinal between Catholic Monks and Shamas Rugby Foundation on Saturday 19 March 2022.
“This attack on the referee by three Shamas Rugby Foundation players goes against the spirit and values of the game. There is no room for the abuse of match officials in Kenyan Rugby.
“In line with World Rugby and KRU laws and regulations, a disciplinary process is underway and the outcome will be communicated once the process has been completed,” the statement from KRU read.
In accordance with the World Rugby handbook, a player risks a life ban for physically assaulting a referee with the most lenient ban being 24 weeks.
On Sunday, March 20, Shamas released a statement, apologising for the unfortunate turn of events on the pitch.
In their statement they revealed that they would terminate the contracts they have with the players involved.
“We condemn the despicable actions of indiscipline against the referee or any person. We apologize to the officials affected, to KRU and the rugby fraternity. What happened yesterday is not part of our culture or the values we stand for as an organization. We distance ourselves from the events and commit to fully cooperating with KRU on the ongoing investigations.
"We would like to make it known to the rugby fraternity that we have since started the process of terminating our relationships with the culprits. Shamas commits to review its hiring and evaluation policies for coaches and players and ensure the weaknesses and events like these do not happen again,” a statement by Shamas read.
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