FKF requests to pay Amrouch Sh114m after Covid 19 pandemic
On the eve of the deadline issued by world football governing body Fifa to Football Kenya Federation (FKF) to pay former national football team Harambee Stars head coach Adel Amrouch Sh114m for wrongful dismisal in 2014, no middle ground seems to have been reached by the two parties.
The Belgian tactician who was in charge of the team for slightly more than one year refused to bulge on requests that he gives the federation more time to foot the bill arguing that FKF had more than six years to come up with a path to paying his dues, while on the other hand, FKF boss Nick Mwendwa says the priority currently is the welfare of local footballers in the wake of the Covid 19 pandemic and requested Fifa to push the deadline further due to the current situation.
“FKF has had six years to come up with a solution on this issue and I’m sorry I cannot extend the wait for my dues.
I met Mwendwa in Switzerland and told him to lay down a plan on how the federation would settle the money they owe me, but he decided to take the legal way,” Amrouche told People Sport on telephone.
Amrouche was sacked in 2014 after being suspended by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) for a violent act during a qualifier against Comoros Island.
This was during a different regime, and according to Mwendwa who took the office in 2016, his National Executive Committee (NEC) decided to pay Amrouche a salary of two and half years to solve the issue, but he refused.
“I feel Amrouche is being unfair to Kenyans, I offered him Sh45m and make him Harambee Stars head coach with a salary of Sh1 million a month so that he drops the case, but he refused.
We had decided as NEC that anything more than Sh 45m we were not going to pay, because he could have been paid for four years of not working,” Mwendwa told People Sport.
He added: “Our priority now is to look at the welfare of the local footballers during this tough time, if the deadline for paying him is pushed then we can engage the government in future to see if they can help, if it’s not possible then we would rather forfeit the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.”
Mwendwa also said there were no payment records for Amrouche’s salary since he was being paid the Sh 2.5m in cash, “ so this is someone who was not paying tax and why should we foot Sh100m for him at this tough times.”
