Harambee Stars bench in fallout ahead of Congo game
Harambee Stars coach Stanley Okumbi has been accused by a member of his technical bench of favoritism in team selection and a failure to consult before making critical decisions.
These allegations were made by the national team’s goalkeeping coach Razak Ziwa on Thursday, barely 48 hours before Harambee Stars play the Republic of Congo in a Africa Nations Cup qualification match.
Football Kenya Federation (FKF) has however hit back by flatly rejecting Ziwa’s claims.
FKF Communications Director Barry Otieno accused Ziwa of “absconding duty”.
“He is supposed to be in camp training the team, but he is nowhere to be seen,” Otieno said.
Ziwa, who boasts a decade’s experience of training goalkeepers in Kenya, Tanzania and Oman, however maintains that Okumbi relieved him of his duties.
CHASED ME AWAY
“The teacher (Okumbi) chased me away after our game against Tanzania (on Tuesday). He is blaming me for all the goals the team has conceded in the last three games against Guinea Bissau and Tanzania,” Ziwa said.
“Which is not fair. Against Tanzania for example the goal was scored before the ball got to the goalkeeper. It is the defenders to blame.”
“I worked under the late Reinhardt Fabisch, Antoine Hey, Bernard Lama and Christian Chukwu. They all would come to me and consult a few days to the match before settling on which of the goalkeepers to pick. Okumbi just does things on his own. I also believe the decision to drop Origi was unfair, he never consulted me on this,” he said.
Okumbi is facing increased pressure from the public after failing to win any of his five games in charge of the team since taking over in March.
