Kenya's 2010 World Cup qualifying match against Nigeria's Super Eagles in Abuja on Sunday was thrown into another round of crisis as the Harambee Stars' head coach, Antoine Hey, refused to accompany the team to Nigeria.
The coach had named the team on Wednesday, even as the coach's boycott came a day after the players protested non-payment of allowances.
Hey arrived at the airport 30 minutes after the plane had taken off, alleging that he had been held up in the traffic; but later revealed that he boycotted travelling with the team because Football Kenya Limited (FKL) failed to pay him his salary.
The team's physical trainer, Kamal Harat, also joined the head coach in the boycott over non-payment of their salaries. The assistant coach, Swaleh Muhiddin, had left for Nigeria earlier in the week, and will now possibly handle the team in the absence of Hey, who was appointed in February this year.
His short tenure has been blighted by turf wars with premier league clubs, which have almost derailed the national team's preparations for the 2010 World Cup qualifiers.
The boycott came on heels of the players also boycotting training on Tuesday, demanding to be paid their allowances after staying in the camp for three weeks.
But on Wednesday, the government, through the Minister of Youth and Sports, Hellen Sambili, settled their allowance claims by presenting Kshs. 2.7 million to Harambee Stars captain Musa Otieno.
There has been confusion as to who is in charge of the national team. While FKL as the football governing body, should take charge of the team, its mandate has been taken over by the Harambee Stars Management Board chaired by Hussein Mohammed, who was present when the minister presented the money to the team captain.
Former Super Eagles technical adviser, Clemens Westerhof has said the Super Eagles will destroy Harambee Stars of Kenyan in Sunday's World Cup qualifiers in Abuja.
The Dutchman said the Eagles are now on top of their game and ready to devour the Kenyans. Making this statement yesterday in an exclusive interview with Trustsports, the former Eagles handler, Clemens Westerhof, said with what he saw in the friendly match against the France, a lot of troubles await the Kenyans in Abuja, saying the Eagles are gradually taking the shape of a formidable side.
"I was happy with the team ball possession and cohesion, especially in the first half of the match. In fact, if the Kenyan coach watched the friendly match by now he would have acknowledged that his team has nothing to offer in Abuja. I'm sure he would have been shaking in his boots by now.
"The Eagles played like the Eagles of the 80's and 90's. Recording a win against the former world champions is by no mean achievement. As a matter of fact, Eagles' performance in France is a confidence and morale booster which came at the time Nigerian's confidence in the team was at the lowest ebb," the Rector of Kwara State Football Academy opined.
On the call by most Nigerians that Coach Amodu Shaibu should parade all the new players who impressed in the last two friendly matches, Westerhof said the task of who to use to prosecute the Kenyan match and the remaining matches should be left to the coach, saying Amodu knows what to do to deliver the World Cup ticket.
The coach had named the team on Wednesday, even as the coach's boycott came a day after the players protested non-payment of allowances.
Hey arrived at the airport 30 minutes after the plane had taken off, alleging that he had been held up in the traffic; but later revealed that he boycotted travelling with the team because Football Kenya Limited (FKL) failed to pay him his salary.
The team's physical trainer, Kamal Harat, also joined the head coach in the boycott over non-payment of their salaries. The assistant coach, Swaleh Muhiddin, had left for Nigeria earlier in the week, and will now possibly handle the team in the absence of Hey, who was appointed in February this year.
His short tenure has been blighted by turf wars with premier league clubs, which have almost derailed the national team's preparations for the 2010 World Cup qualifiers.
The boycott came on heels of the players also boycotting training on Tuesday, demanding to be paid their allowances after staying in the camp for three weeks.
But on Wednesday, the government, through the Minister of Youth and Sports, Hellen Sambili, settled their allowance claims by presenting Kshs. 2.7 million to Harambee Stars captain Musa Otieno.
There has been confusion as to who is in charge of the national team. While FKL as the football governing body, should take charge of the team, its mandate has been taken over by the Harambee Stars Management Board chaired by Hussein Mohammed, who was present when the minister presented the money to the team captain.
Source: The Daily Independent
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Nigeria/Kenya: Kenya Are in Serious Trouble, Says Westerhof
by Ibraheem A. FataiFormer Super Eagles technical adviser, Clemens Westerhof has said the Super Eagles will destroy Harambee Stars of Kenyan in Sunday's World Cup qualifiers in Abuja.
The Dutchman said the Eagles are now on top of their game and ready to devour the Kenyans. Making this statement yesterday in an exclusive interview with Trustsports, the former Eagles handler, Clemens Westerhof, said with what he saw in the friendly match against the France, a lot of troubles await the Kenyans in Abuja, saying the Eagles are gradually taking the shape of a formidable side.
"I was happy with the team ball possession and cohesion, especially in the first half of the match. In fact, if the Kenyan coach watched the friendly match by now he would have acknowledged that his team has nothing to offer in Abuja. I'm sure he would have been shaking in his boots by now.
"The Eagles played like the Eagles of the 80's and 90's. Recording a win against the former world champions is by no mean achievement. As a matter of fact, Eagles' performance in France is a confidence and morale booster which came at the time Nigerian's confidence in the team was at the lowest ebb," the Rector of Kwara State Football Academy opined.
On the call by most Nigerians that Coach Amodu Shaibu should parade all the new players who impressed in the last two friendly matches, Westerhof said the task of who to use to prosecute the Kenyan match and the remaining matches should be left to the coach, saying Amodu knows what to do to deliver the World Cup ticket.
Source: The Daily Trust
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