Amrouche Stars comeback reports dismissed

Reports Belgian Adel Amrouche is set for a sensational return at the helm of Harambee Stars have been dismissed by new Football Kenya Federation (FKF) president, Nick Mwendwa.

Speaking to Citizen on Tuesday, Mwendwa said a decision on the composition of the national senior football team’s bench would be made in the coming few days after he chairs his first National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting on Wednesday.

“I have not spoken to Adel Amrouche anywhere, that I can assure you. People like him, I think, so that is why they are bringing him up. People can have their say but we have steps to approach these issues so in the next few days, we will let people what the steps are.

“These are weighty matters, so we will make decisions in the next two, three days; say by Friday people will know which direction we are taking. In my opinion, he is still suspended but I think a number of Kenyans like him, so it’s good for people to have their say,” Mwendwa said on Amrouche.

The Belgian who now works as a television pundit for ITV in France was suspended last August by the Confederation of African Football initially for a year before it was reduced to six matches on appeal in for allegedly spitting at a match official during Kenya’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in Comoros in May.

Amrouche was quoted saying he had not been contacted by the new administration but would relish a return to a country he was popular as the national boss before Mwendwa’s predecessor, Sam Nyamweya, dispensed with his services after the suspension.

His successor, Scotsman Bobby Williamson who was poached from league champions, Gor Mahia, came under fire for his tactics after Stars crashed out of the group stages of the 2018 FIFA World Cup and failed to hold on to their CECAFA Senior Challenge title in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia towards the end of last year.

A dispiriting 2-1 home reverse to Zambia in the 2017 AFCON qualifiers in September amid disciplinary meltdown in camp led to accusations he had lost the dressing room.

Following Mwendwa’s election last Thursday, Williamson’s future has been the subject of intense speculation with a number of websites and local football blogs rooting for the return of the Moroccan born Belgian.

Mwendwa pledged to send Stars to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar as one of the cornerstones of his election to the highest football office.