We cooperated with Put, FKF says after claims of irresponsibility

Football Kenya Federation (FKF) has cleared the air on the reasons for former Harambee Stars coach Paul Put’s resignation, after a fortnight of silence over what was initially treated as ‘confidential reasons.’

Contrary to Put’s claims that the federation failed to honor 95 percent of the initial agreement that would have eased his job in Kenya, a statement sent to newsrooms on Monday suggests he was offered all the support that was possible.

The coach proposed he be allowed to bring in five members of the technical bench to enhance Kenya’s chances of qualifying for the 2019 World cup. The federation agreed to the proposal, budget to facilitate the same was sent to the Ministry of Sports, with the government committing to cater for the same.

Put also wanted a house, a car and paid vacation for the coach and his family, which was agreed to, the federation going ahead to secure an apartment as per the coach’s specifications, employed a full time driver for him and paid a five day vacation in Mombasa for the coach and his family secure a house for the coach, assign him a car and a driver.

His third condition was prompt payment of his salary allowances and match bonuses. The federation points out by the time the coach was resigning he had been paid all his dues including USD 10,000 for winning CECAFA Senior Challenge Cup.

FKF further reveals the Belgian wanted to be issued with a Kenyan Passport as he could not travel to Belgium where he has a pending conviction/court case and needed a new passport to enable him to travel as his current one was almost filled up.

Belgian Paul Put shortly after being unveiled as the new Harambee Stars coach by his boss, Nick Mwendwa in Mombasa.PHOTO/CITIZEN

“It was not possible to facilitate the issuance of a Kenyan passport for the coach as that is a prerogative of the government. The coach was made aware of the federation’s position on the matter and asked to sort out his court case with his lawyers. The federation also took issue with the coach for not disclosing the issue prior to the signing of the contract,” read part of the statement.

In addition, Put wanted the federation to organize all national team friendlies through his agent, Abraham Sidibe at a cost of USD 30,000 per match.

“The proposal was not agreed to as it was deemed to be expensive and of no value, since the federation had already established contacts with most Football Associations thus capable of organizing friendlies without having to pay the USD 30,000 to a match agent that is not accredited by FIFA,” FKF said.

Another rejected proposal that Put had was a change of monetary terms in his contract from USD to Euros. The federation argued it was not possible to effect the change as it would not mean paying more than the two parties had agreed earlier.

Lastly in his list, Put wanted the federation to contract Canal France International to shoot a motivational video for him, which was turned down on the grounds of high cost.

Put, who has since taken up Guinea national team coaching job, will be remembered for guiding Kenya to their 2017 CECAFA Senior Challenge Cup glory barely three weeks after his arrival.

His utter confidence that Kenya would feature in the 2019 African Cup of Nations will be the major test for his successor, who according to FKF, will start his job on May 1.

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FKF FKF counters Put's claims for resignation FKF says We cooperated with Put

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