Former harambee stars coach Adel Amrouche has spoken for the first time as the deadline for Fifa’s ruling nears. Exactly 20 days from now Fifa my slap Kenya with a ban should Mwendwa fail to pay him 109M.
In a landmark ruling that should have African soccer administrators across the continent stop and think deep and hard about their style of governance. The Kenyan football governing body, Football Kenya Federation (FKF), was ordered by FIFA to pay $1 million (KSh109 million) to a national team coach whose contract was unprocedurally terminated in 2014. If FKF fails to pay by April 24th, Kenya will be kicked out of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar even before the qualifying rounds starts.
According to Adel Amrouche, this was the epitome of arrogance, big egos, claims and counterclaims by Mwendwa. An inside look into Kenyan football’s mismanagement, negligence and how politics coupled with power play has reduced Kenya’s football body FKF on its knees seeking help from the government.
According to sources within the ministry of sports led by cs Amina, the government is not willing to pay 109 M. The ministry sees it as a blunder by Nick Mwendwa led team and therefore they should sort it out.
But how did Kenya find itself here?
All this started when Amrouche was suspended by CAF for misconduct following a spat with the fourth official in 2015 Afcon qualifiers against Comoros. Out of love for soccer and the national team, Amrouche struck a deal with the Nyamweya led federation at that time. Unfortunately the deal was trashed when a new sheriff took over Kenya’s football reigns.
“Nyamweya holds no fault in this, the agreement we made was that Williamson (Bobby) will replace me until we had sorted things out with CAF pertaining to my suspension. Unfortunately during this period Nick Mwendwa won the elections and decided to put a coach that he could easily control in charge of the national team. Nick keeps claiming that FKF didn’t hire or fire me which makes me wonder, are they dealing with a ghost? Amrouche quips.
“I loved my time as head coach of the Harambee Stars, probably my best experience as a national team coach, I worked with some talented players and a super technical support team, and we had created a beautiful family.
The Kenyan people showed me so much love and support which I will always appreciate. Sam Nyamweya gave me the freedom to pick my own players and to run the team as I saw fit. He rarely questioned my team selection, he never forced players into the national team as is a common practice nowadays”. Amrouche added. When asked if FKF ever approached him to settle out of court or try to negotiate a deal Amrouche laughs.
The former coach says there was no proper communication from Nick Mwendwa or FKF, there was no official communication, and they did not make the effort. “I met Nick Mwendwa in Lausanne, Switzerland during the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) hearings, when the court sessions were on break I suggested to Nick to pay me for what my contract was worth and Nick agreed to this but as soon as he talked to his lawyer and we resumed hearings, he changed his mind”. Amrouche says.
“It is the lack of respect and arrogance from Nick Mwendwa that led me to carry the case further and previous to this, I made the effort to go to Kenya on various occasions to try and meet but my attempts were in vain.
My lawyers kept pressuring me to put the final nail in the coffin which would have led to earlier troubles for FKF and the Harambee Stars, but I really wanted to see my players play in the 2019 AFCON.” Adel added.
Initially CAS had ruled that Amrouche be paid a fee of KSh60 million, but Mwendwa kept trying to fight it and made Amrouche to go to court plenty of times resulting in him spending a lot of money on the case and that’s what put KSh49 million on top hence the 109M.
On what he thinks of the government of Kenya pertaining to sports, Amrouche was full of praise to President Uhuru whom he termed as a lover of sports.
As we approach April 24th Fifa ban is beckoning. Mwendwa should stop blaming Nyamweya and sort out this issue once and for all. Our young men and women should not be penalised at the expense of power play and mediocrity
