Plot thickens at Leopards lair as key players want out

AFC Leopards are facing arguably one of their sternest financial tests in recent times after their Burundian midfield maestro Tresor Ndikumana and Rwandan Vincent Abamahoro demanded to be handed release letters so as to formally part ways with the 12-time Kenyan Premier League champions.

Club chairman Dan Shikanda confirmed that the two want out due to lack of salary payments for three-and-a half-months.

Club captain Soter Kayumba, also a Rwandese, has not been spotted since playing in the Mashemeji derby on November 10, a match Leopards lost 4-1.

“It is true we have two players; Ndikumana (Tresor) and Vincent Abamahoro who have asked to leave.

When you reach a point where we don’t have a steady income and the little we are getting from the gate collections are being channeled  for honouring  fixtures and training facilities then things would definitely be thick,” lamented Shikanda.

Leopards need around Sh15m to clear the salary arrears of the players, technical bench members and office space.

“Soter went to see his sick wife in Rwanda but since then we have not seen him while Ndikumana says back home in his country people know that he is living well, enjoying life here which is contrary to the things on the ground,” he added.

Leopards’ predicament has not gone well moreso with the foreign legion who can’t fathom how a giant in the mould of Ingwe would fail to pay their salaries.

For now their options are open as they contemplate jump-starting their careers back home.

According to Shikanda, the gate collections from the Kisumu All-Stars match amounted to a paltry Sh10, 000.

“Gor Mahia are lucky they have Baba (opposition leader Raila Odinga) to help them while for us it’s the opposite, we have no baba or mama to run to for help,” he cried.

“We have tried to knock t on the doors of our western leaders but nobody is willing to open the door to help us,” Shikanda told Citizen Digital.

The broke Leopards will be travelling to Mumias Sports Complex to face Nzoia Sugar FC in a Kenyan Premier League tie scheduled for this Saturday after a slim 1-0 win against Kisumu All-Stars on Sunday in Machakos which catapulted them to fifth on the 18-team log.