Kenya faces ban as Tong-IL Moo-Do International Martial Arts event hangs in balance

Kenya Tong-IL Moo-Do Federation officials and members held a peaceful demonstration at Ministry of Sports Headquarters, Talanta Plaza, Nairobi on Monday. [KMTF]

Kenya Tong Il Moo-Do Federation (KMTF) has accused a section of top officials at the Ministry of Youth Affairs, Creative Economy and Sports of frustrating their efforts to host the 12th Mombasa Open Tong-IL Moo-Do International Martial Arts Championship.

The tournament which was supposed to be held between December 11-24 at Aga Khan Academy, Mombasa is yet to kick off due to lack of funds. Over 35 countries including Iran, the Philippines, Japan, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Thailand are expected to participate.

This is the second time this year the tournament is finding itself in an embarrassing situation after it was postponed in August due to the same reasons. The event has been held annually in Mombasa since it was founded in 2013 with Kenya winning a record 11 titles.

To avoid a ban and hefty fine from the World Tong-IL Moo-Do Federation, KMTF president Clarence Mwakio and his members held a peaceful demonstration at the Ministry of Sports Headquarters, Talanta Plaza in Nairobi on Monday to protest the delay in approving and disbursement of funds for the tournament.

The move saw the federation secure a meeting with Sports Kipchumba Murkomen on Wednesday to unlock the stalemate.

"We marched peacefully to the Ministry of Sports headquarters successfully and requested to see the Cabinet Secretary for Sports to hear our grievances as Kenya Tong-IL Moo-Do Federation and especially in regards to denial of funding for the 12th Mombasa Open Tong-IL Moo-Do International Martial Arts Championship scheduled for December 11-24," Mwakio said.

"We, as a federation, are afraid we shall face a ban of Tong-IL Moo-Do for failure to host this World Championship event. We shall also be fined heavily for postponing the event in August. If we fail now it will be a disaster for our young players whose future is dependent on Tong-IL Moo-Do.

"We did not meet CS Murkomen on Monday. However, we were addressed by the Secretary for Administration, Evans Achoki, who heard our grievances. He secured a meeting with the Cabinet Secretary for Sports on Wednesday morning to have a discussion with the Federation officials to unlock the stalemate and work out a better working relationship between the two bodies."