Peter Tum details how dishonest Kabaddi Federation officials led to recent travel standoff

Sports Principal Secretary Peter Tum is “perturbed” by the behavior of the Kenya Kabaddi National team players and team officials, even as they fly out of the country in readiness for the men’s Beach World Cup in Iran on 25-30 September.

In a statement to the media, Tum took the initiative to detail the standoff between the team and the Government Department of Sports, after the former this week staged a night-vigil at the Talanta Plaza offices for delays in travel arrangements.

And while the issue has now been resolved - the first batch of players departed at 4:35 PM aboard the Emirates Airlines - it now appears that there was a discrepancy between information provided by kabaddi federation officials, and what the ministry held as factual upon embarking on their “standard verification process.”

The ministry statement read: “The department of Sports received a financial request from Kabaddi Federation concerning their participation at the world cup event in Iran which they stated would be commencing on 20th and ending on 30th September 2024.

“On subjecting the application to the standard verification and approval process, our officers found that contrary to what was communicated by the federation in their application, the tournament was scheduled to start on 25th and end on the 30th.”

As per the ministry, their finding was backed by the Embassy of the Republic of Iran, and that neither the Secretary General nor Chief Executive Officer of the Kabaddi Federation could explain the discrepancy in the championship dates.

And so when the team members staged a sit-in night vigil at Tum’s office on Wednesday 18 September, the ministry took the decision on Thursday morning to “resolve the issue”, while promising travel not later than Sunday 22 September.

“At 2:30 pm, on the same day [Thursday], and in complete disregard of the consultations that had taken place in the morning, the Federation officials informed the ministry officials that the players were at JKIA, waiting to board the 4:30 pm flight to Tehran.”

As per the ministry, the team officials had not been issued with the tickets, “but relied on the anticipation that they would be issued while they were at the airport.”

The department of Sports indicated that it was perturbed by the behavior of the “players who flocked the PS’s Office and refused to leave despite the assurance that would be looked into the following day.”

A call was also made to federation officials to be “truthful and honest” while planning for international events and competitions in order to “avoid putting innocent players in difficult situations.”