‘BOBBY DESERVES IT’: FKF defends Williamson’s hefty pay, Muhiddin shocked by figure

The Football Kenya Federation (FKF) has defended the Sh2.5million monthly salary paid to Harambee Stars coach Bobby Williamson.

Federation President Sam Nyamweya also pointed out that the coach has sacrificed a lot for the country after agreeing to go for more than one year without being paid.

“He deserves the pay and let us not forget the fact that he has had salary arrears for long. In our opinion, he has done well considering the circumstances he was working under,” Mr Nyamweya said.

The FKF boss believes the coach can still steer the national team to the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations finals.

“We still have a chance of featuring in the finals despite losing to Zambia. We just need to be focused and work hard on this,” he said.

The coach himself, however, declined to comment on his pay insisting it is a private matter between him and FKF.

Former Harambee Stars coach and Bandari tactician Twahir Muhiddin said he was surprised by the huge salary paid to Williamson considering the results his team has been getting.

“I still cannot come around to believe that he is actually earning this amount of money. If he was performing, well and good, but the fact is he does not deserve it,” he said.

Kenya Football Coaches Association (Kefoca) Chairman Ricky Solomon, however, defended the hefty salary paid to the former Gor Mahia coach.

“Williamson was signed on the strength of his good performance while working with Uganda Cranes. In this regard, FKF either had to match what he was earning or give him more,” said Mr Solomon.

By the time Williamson was joining Harambee Stars, he had already been sacked from his Uganda Cranes job, but was able to get the Gor Mahia job.

“But owing to the fact that the team is performing poorly, Solomon says, the salary should be reviewed though he also pointed out that he (Williamson) is not entirely to blame for the poor showing.

“If you look at the team’s performance since Williamson joined, it has not been good but then again he is not entirely to blame. It is not possible for him to do well with poor preparation,” he pointed out.

Solomon also took issue with the fact that local coaches are not being paid fair wages.

Meanwhile, Tusker coach Francis Kimanzi has called on his players to show their quality and retain the KPL Top Eight trophy, Supersport.com reports.

The brewers have won the Top 8 twice in a row and are in the last eight of the competition this year where they will face AFC Leopards over the weekend.

After what has been a horrific season in the Kenyan Premier League, Tusker will be keen to win either of the cup competitions (they are still involved in the GOtv Shield) and the Top 8 will be high on their agenda.

Kimanzi says that it is time his players stood up to be counted.
“We have a good opportunity to show we are a good team and retain the KPL Top 8,” he said.

“It is a good time to play the game because we have a full squad and we all know what we want to do and that is to retain the trophy.”

“We are very proud of who we are and what we stand for and the players know and understand that they need to do well in the remaining competitions.”