K. TeyaAmbani reveals what is ailing AFC Leopards
.jpg)
Reading Time: 4min | Mon. 23.10.23. | 11:23
Next for the Leopards is an away game against Nzoia Sugar FC at Sudi Stadium in Bungoma
Former AFC Leopards striker Fred Ambani has broken his silence over what he believes is ailing the club that he served both as a player and coach for the junior team.
17th -placed Ingwe are the only winless team in the league this campaign after seven rounds of league matches and have the same number of points (4) as bottom-placed Sofapaka.
The woeful run resulted in the dismissal of Tom Juma and the appointment of Tomas Trucha, whose term started with a 1-0 loss to Bandari in Mombasa on Sunday.
The Bandari loss saw the fans who had traveled to Mombasa for the game demand answers from the Dan Shikanda-led administration.
Ambani has now taken to social media to break down what he believes is ailing the team that he unsuccessfully tried to run for chairmanship in 2019.
“I have been an AFC Leopards fan since I was a kid, and I am still one to date. Later on, I went on to play for the club, left, continued supporting the club, and came back to the club as a coach of the junior side, the one christened The Leopards Cubs,” read his statement in part.
The former Kenyan international took a swipe at a section of club legends for locking him out of the 2019 chairmanship race in favour of Dan Shikanda, who defended his seat in 2022.
“I later stepped out as the cubs' gaffer and threw myself into campaigning for the chairmanship position. Some forces behind Kenyan football and the club itself made sure I didn't get to the ballot box. They made sure I got locked out of it under the pretext that I was young and should leave it to Shikanda. This pressure also came from the AFC Leopards Legends”.
I told them, I might be young, yes, but with the brains I have in football and my international exposure, I knew what I wanted. I knew what I wanted to fix in this club once and for all. Many of my fans got worked up; they never showed up during the voting day. I went to court to stop elections, but later on, the courts, as usual, decided otherwise. Story for another day”.
Ambani went straight to hitting out at the club hierarchy, saying they had compromised on the standards of the club.
“What is ailing this club? It trickles down to the management of the club, from the top levels to the branch levels. You need to be a very strong leader to handle this club. No nonsense. You don't have to compromise on standards. Standards at this club have been compromised. The turnover of coaches and players in the club is wanting”.
Leopards have in the last few years been slapped by serious sanctions by FIFA for breaching contracts of their former foreign players and coaches, and last year they served a two-window transfer ban that was lifted in August. The biggest fine that the club had to pay for a breach was that of former coach Patrick Aussems, who was awarded over KES 20 million by FIFA’s DRC, and Ambani believes these breaches that lead to sanctions could be well-planned and orchestrated.
“The fines leveled against the club by FIFA can't make this club move even an inch, and to me, it's man-made. Signing mediocre players left-right has become the norm at the club, especially for foreigners. Nobody wants to address this openly. Even the so-called AFC Leopards Legends are very quiet on it. Tell me how many AFC Leopards players play on the current national team. How many have even received the national team call-up alone? Speaks volumes,” he added.
"The club has no well-laid-out structures to run it. No well-settled policies There is no proper transparency or accountability for anything. Integrity supersedes everything. Nobody is addressing this. Not even the fans themselves. All they want to see is the team winning. Winning doesn't just fall from the clouds. Before it rains, it takes a process. A long one. So how do you want to win? What's the quality of players that we have at the club? Who signs these players? Who scouts for leopards? The team can't sing quality; why? Hard questions you are evading and running away from.”
He added that Ingwe supporters should not go after coach Trucha’s head if things do not work out, as the team did not prepare well for the current campaign.
“FIFA ban. Did you know this team didn't even go for preseason training because a good number of the players left? The team was left grappling over who to sign and when. They couldn't compete to get the best in the market. Let's sit down as AFC Leopards fans and ask ourselves hard questions before you slaughter Trucha again—the way you just did to Tom Juma."
Next for the Leopards is an away game against Nzoia Sugar FC at Sudi Stadium in Bungoma.
.jpg)
