Mwendwa plays down Migne's outburst

Football Kenya Federation (FKF) president Nick Mwendwa was coy on Harambee Stars coach Sebastian Migne’s displeasure with happenings in camp despite registering a shock 1-0 win over Ghana in Saturday’s 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) Group “F” qualifier at Kasarani stadium.

The Frenchman cut a forlorn figure in his post-match interview and took no questions after addressing a pool of journalists for two minutes and 40 seconds, expressing displeasure at the lack of adequate time to train at the sparkling green Kasarani stadium and secondly with players who failed to report to camp including injured captain Victor Wanyama.

“It’s not possible to work like that if we want to achieve at a high level. I think it was a lack of respect, I want to keep calm, quiet but I need to think about the future,” said Migne, during the presser before walking out leaving journalists shocked.

Mwendwa was non-committal on the matter but said they will continue to improve on the few things lacking.

“You should ask the coach (why he is not happy), what I will tell you is that we’ve done very well in terms of organisation vis a vis three years ago,” he said, after awarding players Sh2 million for the victory against Ghana with the squad sharing the sum after Sunday’s morning training session at Kenya School of Monetary Studies.

On Gor Mahia duo George “Blackberry” Odhiambo and Boniface Oluoch, who failed to report to camp alongside Wanyama and Kakamega Homeboyz striker Allan Wanga, Mwendwa said they’ll handle the disciplinary issue internally but nonetheless, they will move on with available players should anyone reject call ups in future.

“In Cecafa (Senior Challenge Cup), we invited some players but they refused to come and we won the cup, we again invited players, some refused to come and we won against Ghana.

“It’s a nation of 51 million people, I am sorry, our mind is not in going to follow and punish players because I don’t think anyone is doing something malicious, we want players who want to be with us and get the job done,” he added.

Kenya hosts Malawi, who fell 3-0 to Morocco in a Group “B” qualifier on Saturday, in an international friendly on Tuesday at Kasarani.

The Flames are scheduled to jet into the country on Monday morning.

VIP tickets will be sold at Sh500 and Sh100 for terraces.

“We’ve reduced the amounts as a thank you to those who supported us against Ghana, the atmosphere was fantastic,” he concluded.