Reprieve as FIFA extends Amrouche payment window

The World football governing body (FIFA) on Monday gave Football Kenya Federation (FKF) extended by a month the period to clear the Sh. 109 million owed to former Harambee Stars coach Adel Amrouche, Citizen Digital has learnt.

However Fifa also slapped FKF with a Sh3 million fine for failing to pay the stipulated Sh109 million within the March 11 deadline.

Failing to pay the amount in the next one month, Fifa warned will lead to Kenya being thrown out of the World Cup competitions.

The penalty is as a result of unprocedural sacking, and fines for delay to pay the Algerian-born-Belgian which FKF has been pleading with the Government through the Ministry of Sports to help clear.

The Disciplinary Committee evaluated the case in which Amrouche won against FKF, but the orders to pay before mid-March having not been honoured, considering the request by the federation for more time.

“FKF is directed to notify the secretariat to the Disciplinary Committee of every payment made and to provide the relevant proof of payment,” the FIFA Disciplinary Committee ordered.

Both sides are supposed to write to Fifa their position on the directive in 10 days, failure to which the committee will consider the decision as final.

All along, the current FKF regime has been pointing fingers to their predecessors for the debts they inherited from them, including the Amrouche case.

“I don’t want to mention names but everyone knows who sacked Amrouche having given him a five-year contract. What did I do when we came in? I have been in court for four years trying to challenge the amount of money he was awarded in the case. Finally, CAS (Court of Arbitration for Sports said that we pay.

“We accept that this in now our problem, but we must remind people where it all started,” said FKF president Nick Mwendwa in a past interview with Citizen Digital.

On his part, Nyamweya has several occasions defended his administration saying he had negotiated for Amrouche’s comeback to avoid such a penalty, a move he said Mwendwa halted.

“The Government should not pay Amrouche. In fact Mwendwa should be forced to pay from his pocket. He complicated this case himself…” Nyamweya fumed, in an earlier interview.

Mwendwa meanwhile says his administration has learnt from Amrouche’s case and Scott Bobby Williamson’s one, who is also owed over Sh. 60 million by the federation foe yet another wrongful dismissal.

“We have put in measures to ensure this does not happen again in the future. We will no longer hire coaches on closed contracts basis as it was before…” he told.

Kenya risks being thrown out of the 2021 World Cup qualifiers if the money is nof paid in time, with the federation keeping faith that the Ministry will accept to shoulder the burden.

Sports CS Amb. Amina Mohammed is on record saying the Government is not willing to pay, insisting the federation should negotiate with FIFA on how to solve the issue.