More trouble at Leopards as tension mounts between skipper Kamura and club

More trouble at Leopards as tension mounts between skipper Kamura and club

From one calamity to the other, so goes the script at AFC Leopards.

If not unpaid salaries then its player go-slows.

From go-slows to defeat at Bandari.

The Bandari defeat has led to sabotage theories.

At the centre of the theory is non other than Robinson Kamura, the club’s talismanic captain, who’s being accused of having masterminded the 2-1 defeat at Bandari last Friday.

Reason? His error led to a goal for the home side.

Naturally, players, great, average, mediocre, all make mistakes on the pitch.

But so, it seems, Kamura made one and it has led to a storm. And, even before the club gets to the root cause of the ”sabotage/match-fixing” claims, he’s been nailed already, axed from the match day squad to face Ulinzi Stars this afternoon in an FKF PL match at Kasarani Annex.

Apart from his crime – on-the-pitch mistake which led to Bandari’s goal, Kamura claims he’s been singled out as one of the senior players close to former coach Anthony ‘Modo’ Kimani hence sabotaging the new coach, Patrick Aussems.

Kimani quit the den two weeks ago, upon the confirmation of the Belgian as the new head coach. He’s been linked with a move to Bandari, to reunite with Rwandan coach Andre Casa Mbungo whom he worked under at Leopards in 2019.

Said Kamura: “Treasurer (Maurice Chichi) claims that senior players who are closer to former interim coach ‘Modo’ (Antony Kimani) match-fixed the Bandari game and that is not true. We lost fairly due to mistakes I and Marvin (Nabwire) committed at the back.”

Kamura says he’s captained Ingwe for four years and and would ”gain nothing” by working  against the club

“Fans now think that we match-fixed and yet that is not the case. Such allegation is career-threatening for any player,” Kamura said, adding, “You cannot be Ingwe captain and match-fix. The week was surrounded by a lot of activities including the go-slow and that go-slow was not planned by the captain but the entire team.

My name is clean and I cannot involve myself in such an evil act,” he said.

Leopards had enjoyed a fairly good run in the campaign before Bandari put a break to it.

Ingwe play host to Ulinzi Stars this afternoon at Kasarani Annex in a must win tie as they bid to turn around their campaign and Kamura has consequently been withdrawn from match day squad.

“I am not even in the team sheet to face Ulinzi today and I know there are some forces behind that. I cannot betray my own team AFC (Leopards) just because we have not been paid salaries.

We have performed better and won six matches in nine we had played before the Bandari fixture.

How come we managed to do better even when the club owed us yet they are now blaming me? he wondered.

On his part, Leopards treasurer Maurice Chichi distanced himself from the accusations, noting that the office is working round the clock to settle the players’ dues.

“The management has not said anything like senior players are sabotaging the team. We are working round to clear the January salaries and there is nothing in the knowledge of the officials that players have done anything wrong.

“We are not getting any income from the stadium and we have only Ksh 40m annually from our sponsors while Gor Mahia get Ksh 45m yet they have gone for about three months without salaries. Everything is under control,” Chichi said.

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