Sofapaka president Elly Kalekwa has revealed why the club settled on Zedekiah ‘Zico’ Otieno to see out the season and also addressed why nine players went on strike
Sofapaka president Elly Kalekwa has revealed why the side settled on Zedekiah ‘Zico’ Otieno to guide the team to achieve their targets for the rest of the season.
Zico was appointed the new head coach to replace Burundian tactician Francis Harigingo, who was given his marching orders following a string of poor results in October.
Former AFC Leopards midfielder Ezekiel Akwana was appointed coach on an interim basis and will now become an assistant coach at the club, with Zico, a former Harambee Stars coach, taking charge.
Kalekwa has now revealed why they settled on the former Gor Mahia player and coach to take them forward.
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“He is a very experienced coach, and we are happy to have him on board. What I can assure our fans is that we will not be relegated,” Kalekwa said, as quoted on Mozzart Sport.
Meanwhile, Kalekwa has revealed the reason nine players were summoned for disciplinary hearings in December.
“We have signed good players, but unfortunately, some of them have not been committed to the team. Going on strike was unnecessary because we had not delayed so long in paying their salaries as they alleged," he added.
“The truth is that the salaries had been delayed for just two months, and this is not strange in our league, but we always do our best to ensure the players' needs are taken care of.
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“There is no provision in our contracts for players to go on strike,” he said.
In August, Kalekwa had told Pulse Sports that the club were in the process of looking for a sponsor, but now says the actions by the players effectively blew away an opportunity to seal a lucrative deal.
“We were in discussion with a serious sponsor, and the negotiations had concluded successfully. The only condition was for us to improve in our performance, but then the players let us down,” he revealed.
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Kalekwa, at the same time, said they had given notice to players who are not happy to leave.
“The transfer window is almost here, and we have asked anyone who is not happy to leave because we cannot work with players who are not committed to the club,” he said.
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