Sudanese team blame defeat in Challenge Cup final on their detention at Milele Hotel

By RODGERS ESHITEMI

Drama preceded the 2013 Gotv Cecafa Senior Challange Cup final between hosts Harambee Stars and Sudan as the Falcons were detained at Milele Hotel, Nairobi’s South C over unpaid bills.

But the team was released after the Kenya government intervened to offset the accrued bills estimated at Sh4m just one hour before the kick-off as earlier scheduled.

Despite being released, Sudan coach Mubarak Suliman couldn’t hide his anger and blamed the organisers for their misfortune. “I am disappointed with what has happened to us. Last time, before we left for Mombasa for the semis, we were also detained. Cecafa and FKF have let us down,” said Suliman. The embarrassing incident came barely five days after Sudan, Eritrea, Burundi and Uganda were confined at the same facility.

Although Milele’s CEO, Samuel Waweru, thanked the government for settling the bills, he said they were forced to take the action due to Football Kenya Federation’s (FKF) unfulfilled promises.

“They have paid all the bills and we have released the players. It’s unfortunate that such an incident happened and it’s not serving the hotel or FKF any good. But we appreciate the government and FKF for paying the bills,” said the Milele Hotel CEO.

“ We have had a lot of drama since the tournament started. There were many unfulfilled promises and we expected them to settle all the bills today and we were prepared to ensure the match is postponed until our dues are fully settled,” he added.

Sports Commissioner, Gordon Oluoch, was saddenned by the incident, saying the Ministry of Sports, Culture and Arts had committed to pay the bills.

“This is a problem of a few mistakes, few rumours peddled to Milele that FKF would not pay them after the tournament is over. I have intervened as an authority from the Ministry to sort out the bills. The government had made a commitment of Sh42m to sort the issues of transport and accommodation. The money has been wired into FKF’s account and the hotels will be paid on Monday,” said Oluoch.

“We will also pay Harambee Stars an allowance worth Sh4.2m. We regret about the delay of the match and apologise to Sudan,’’ said Oluoch.

FKF Chairman Sam Nyamweya admitted they faced challenges due to the huge budget of the tournament, but hailed the government for their support. “We’ve cleared the bills for all the teams that had not been released. There’s a miscommunication between Milele and the hotel that had subcontracted them. 

— rokumu@standardmedia.co.ke.