Top Kenyan Premier League officials were on Friday "cleared of contempt of court charges filed against them by Football Kenya Federation," averting six months in civil jail. The High Court in Nairobi ruled that "there was no evidence that KPL was served with the order barring it from organizing league matches by the federation" on Feb. 20 when it went to the same court to obtain an injunction (XINHUA, 3/15). ... Desperate players at Belarus' FC Dinamo Brest "have taken the unusual step of writing to state authorities pleading for them to pay their unpaid wages." Belarus' top clubs "are struggling to stay afloat financially and for the Dinamo Brest player, the crisis has reached breaking point." To date, "there has been no official response from the governor." In their letter, the footballers and staff members said that, should their request be ignored, they "will go to court" (INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL, 3/13). ... The French League's disciplinary commission "will meet next week to discuss the match-fixing allegations against Ligue 2 club Nimes." An investigator "will hand over a case file to the commission, who will meet on Monday and Tuesday, before making a disciplinary decision by March 23" (REUTERS, 3/13). ... The FA "dealt with almost three times the number of incidents of players surrounding referees this season or being involved in mass confrontations than they had at the corresponding stage a year ago." At this stage last season the FA "had charged six clubs from the Premier League down to the Conference National for not controlling their players this way." This season, the number is 16 and the FA "was concerned enough to write to every club in those five divisions before Christmas" (London GUARDIAN, 3/14).
