Wazito sack Kimanzi after rant on club owner
By Cecil OdongoWazito has sacked coach Francis Kimanzi, hours after he publicly blasted the financially strapped Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Premier League club for failing to pay him and the players on time.
A statement from the club on Thursday confirmed the former Harambee Stars trainer had departed via mutual consent.
“We confirm head coach Francis Kimanzi, his assistants Jeff Odongo and John Kamau, and goalkeepers’ coach Samuel Koko have left the club. We wish them well in their future endeavors.”
The same statement also confirmed the appointment of Fred Ambani as Kimanzi’s replacement. It’s the Kenyan International’s third stint at the club in the same capacity.
In an exclusive interview with Nairobi News on Wednesday, Kimanzi had squarely laid the blame on the club’s Swedish owner Ricardo Badoer for the team’s recent poor returns on the pitch.
Kimanzi claimed the club had not paid the players for three months and had also not settled him for four months. The coach also opened the lid on the players’ strike ahead of the team’s recent match versus Vihiga Bullets.
Wazito has recorded only two wins this season, and also shipped in eight goals in the past two matches, in 4-1 and 4-2 losses to Posta Rangers and bottom-placed Bullets.
They sit 16th on the 18-team log with a paltry nine points.
Ambani has meanwhile returned to the club alongside Salim Babu and Elisha Otieno who will serve as the assistant coach and goalkeeper trainer respectively.
Ambani is the seventh coach to manage Wazito in the past three seasons, after Briton Stewart Hall, Stanley Okumbi, Fred Ouna, Hamisi Abdalla and Egyptian- American Melis Medo.