A gay rugby player in the UK has been spared deportation back to Kenya, where he fears for his safety, and where gay sex is punishable by up to 14 years in prison. Yet his future remains uncertain.

Kenneth Macharia, a member of the LGBTQ-inclusive team the Bristol Bisons, has been detained at the Colnbrook Immigration Removal Centre, located near Heathrow Airport. A petition against his deportation has drawn over 77,000 signatures at time of writing.

"There’s lots left to do, but he won’t be going anywhere for now," said Wells' Member of Parliament, James Heappey.

The team tweeted yesterday that Macharia had been released and the threat of imminent removal from the UK lifted.

Today, however, they updated that information, saying he was still being detained, and would not be released until tomorrow at the earliest.

Macharia arrived in the country in 2009 on a student visa, and was twice granted extensions allowing him to remain in the UK, first as a student, then as a highly skilled migrant, according to The Guardian.

He claimed asylum in 2016, arguing he could be persecuted in Kenya for being gay, but his request was denied.

Teammate Andrew Holmes, who started the petition, called Macharia "an integral part of our rugby family at Bristol Bisons RFC."

"He is an important part of our community, and regularly attends our matches across the country as our match photographer, and has also undertaken training to be our first aid medic," Holmes continued. "This is very typical of Ken’s nature–always wanting to help, and always being concerned for the well-being of other people."

The Home Office said it could not comment on the particulars of his case, but said it was "committed to delivering an asylum process that is sensitive to all forms of persecution, including those based on sexual identity or orientation."

Kenyan activists are hopeful the anti-gay sodomy law, which dates back to British colonial rule, will soon be overturned, and refugees held the country's first Pride parade this year.

But participants in that march reported feeling threatened in the following days, with threatening messages pinned to notice boards throughout the camp, and there remains no guarantee the country will overturn its sodomy law.