Ticket fiasco almost costs Kenya’s goalkeeping coach trip to Ethiopia
Harambee Stars goalkeeping coach Matthews Ottamax was on Saturday morning momentarily stranded at the team’s hostel in Kasarani, after Football Kenya Federation attempted to deny him a chance to travel with the team to Ethiopia in favour of an “interpreter”.
Ottamax who also serves KPL champions Gor Mahia in the same capacity however had his ticket returned by the authorities barely an hour later, following a wave of public outcry by football fans on social media.
The former Kenya international custodian disclosed his predicament on his Facebook page early on Saturday morning.
“As goalkeeping coach of Harambee Stars, news reaching me now is I need to give room to an interpreter to travel to Ethiopia for Cecafa! Nifanye? (what do I do?), ” he wrote.
This post led to a hue and cry within social media circles, with a majority of fans criticizing the FKF. Moments later, Ottamax would reveal through the same platform that he had finally secured his ticket.
“Twists and Turns, Abracadabra and my ticket has resurfaced! The game has just begun,” he wrote.
HEAVY CRITICISM
FKF officials were however unavailable for comment. The federation has lately been subjected to heavy criticism following allegations of mismanagement and incompetence.
Ottamax’s predicament is the latest of a series of controversies that have rocked FKF in the past one week.
Earlier in the week, FKF president Chairman Sam Nyamweya and some officials from the federation were questioned by the authorities amid claims they had bungled the national team’s preparations ahead of a trip to Cape Verde for a 2018 World Cup qualifying match.
On Thursday, Nyamweya would come under further scrutiny after a phone recording allegedly of him threatening a football official went viral on social media.
The Kenyan national team is in Ethiopia to defend the Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup title that they won two years ago in Nairobi.
The team, under coach Bobby Williamson’s, will play it’s first match in the tournament against Uganda on Sunday evening.