Malkia Strikers' appeal to President Ruto over unfulfilled promises ahead of World Championships [VIDEO]

Malkia Strikers, currently in Phuket for the 20th edition of the FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship, have finally broken their silence on the negligence the team has faced in the lead-up to their trip to Thailand for international duty.

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A squad of 14 travelled first to Vietnam for build-up matches before crossing over to Thailand, where they are set to face Germany, Poland, and Vietnam in Group G of their global competition.

Before their departure, sources had intimated to Mozzart Sport that there was disquiet, which we highlighted, with murmurs indicating that allowances had not been paid before their travel as had been promised, leaving most of the players demoralised.

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The team has also called out the government for neglecting its preparations, forcing the federation to use funds provided by sponsor Mozzart Bet to set up a residential camp.

In a 12-minute video released on social media, the squad has confirmed the development, thanking Mozzart Bet for the support, while calling on Sports Cabinet Secretary Salim Mvurya and President William Ruto to motivate them.

“Our mantra goes, ‘Our Team One Mission’, but for this, we ask the federation to help us achieve that mission. We came here with a target, and we do not want to lose it.

Mr President, we are also your children, so help us. We ask the CS to keep his promise and pay what we are owed as he promised. We are suffering but are patriotic enough to be here,” Sande appeals in the video.

“We had a promise to get all our allowances before travelling to Vietnam, but that never happened. We were hosted by The Sports CS before travelling and had planned to speak our mind then, but we were assured that everything had been sorted in time,” opposite Pamella Adhiambo confirmed, further calling for clear communication.

With the team expected to open their campaign on Saturday, 23 August against 11th-ranked Germany, Adhiambo questions why sponsorship monies, part of which was to settle their allowances, as has been the case since the betting firm came on as their title sponsors, were spent elsewhere, leaving them penniless.

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The team is yet to receive any training allowances for both trainings in Kenya and Vietnam.

The writing was on the wall way before the team was named, as, unlike in the previous edition, where they held at least three months of training, in addition to a week-long buildup of friendlies in Serbia, the team only had a month to train at home.

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