AFC Leopards chairman Dan Shikanda defends Aussems, hits at Tusker’s Matano in Djudju fued
AFC Leopards chairman Dan Shikanda has stoked controversy in the tiff involving his coach Patrick Aussems and Tusker’s Robert Matano by claiming Matano displayed odd behaviors in a recent league match between the two teams.
These behaviours, Shikanda adds, left his players unsettled.
“Let me be fair and frank to Matano and Kenya football. You leaving your technical area and going over to somebody else’s, it is a red card (offence). No two ways about it. Matano left his technical area and went into our technical area. Reason? He was going to get a ball. We were supposed to play with a particular ball. We had ten balls on that pitch, we have ball boys on that pitch but we were supposed to play with that particular ball. He’s not a god to know that if he unsettles the team, he would score. He’s not a god, he’s just a human being like all of us. What I am trying to say is, where are the rules when Leopards is playing?” asked Chairman Shikanda.
Shikanda spoke in an exclusive interview with the hit podcast on NTV.
Shikanda, a seasoned football administrator, further voiced his opinion regarding the off-pitch clashes between Aussems and Matano amid claims by the Leopards coach that his Tusker colleague was dabbling in black magic (djudju) to win matches.
“Unfortunately, we have been punished at the last minute due to a lack of aggressiveness! Congrats to the players of Tusker. Of course, I won’t talk about an old coach with no international experience who is more a djudju man than a tactician…. one could learn!’ tweeted Mr Aussems on April 9, 2023.
Matano responded to this by instituting legal action against Aussems.
Matano’s lawyers, in their filings, said Aussems, a Belgian coach, had disparaged their client’s professional business as a football coach and that his esteem had been lowered in the eyes of society; thus suffering embarrassment, contempt, and odium.
Further, Shikanda defended Aussems following his ‘djudju man’ tweet aimed at Matano, clarifying that his coach had not meant djudju but juu juu– a repeated Swahili word that means up. He further excused Aussems for being a French speaker and not knowing sheng or Swahili to know which of the two terms to use in his tweet.
“You read the tweet, has Coach not congratulated Tusker? When somebody says ‘I am really struggling to reach the age of my father- because that is a blessing to be old- when you are called old by another person, is that an insult? Context is very important. Did he say Matano is a juju man? When he says a tactician without international experience, that is relative. Maybe he was comparing him to himself because he has coached in different countries. Matano has only coached here. Maybe if he goes out, he will get international experience. I’m looking at it in that context and how relative a word is to what is being spoken about,” said Chairman Shikanda.
Listen to the podcast here – https://ntvkenya.co.ke/podcast/the-hit-podcast-ingwes-abandoned-match-against-kakamega-homeboyz/
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