Former Ingwe boy, Imbalambala is just confused Says Ottieno

The National Chairman of Kenya Football Referees Association GMT Ottieno has no kind words for former AFC Leopards captain Martin Imbalambala.

Ottieno was reacting to a recent story carried by The Nairobian in which Imbalambala, who has since moved to Nakumatt, claimed that ingwe players trained while drunk.

“I am not an official of AFC Leopards, but I am constrained to comment on the bad mouthing of the club by their former player Martin Imbalambala. This is one player who despite knowing the club was going through serious ?nancial challenges incited his fellow players to leave the club. It is by the grace of God that Ingwesurvived their treachery to remain at a very respectable position in the league,” said Ottieno.

Ottieno added that: “It beats logic that Imbalambla in his opening remarks, and I quote: “The players in the lower tier league wako na bidii sana; they work extra hard. I think there is nothing special about playing in KPL. I have learnt a lot and my career has not downgraded” unquote. Curiously, Imbalambala when asked where his focus is in the third paragraph of the interview says and I quote, “ My objective is to get back to my fitness level and play like before. I would like to help Nakumatt to play in the prestigious KPL. I now have more playing time and I have the opportunity to learn new things” unquote.
How can one say there is nothing special playing in KPL and in the next minute he say he wants to help his current Club Nakumatt to play in the prestigious KPL? Is this a player to take seriously? Is it not clearly that he lacks focus and direction?

There is everything to gain playing in KPL and that is why we have so many foreign players in our league due to exposure and the professional manner in which the league is run. Imbalambala should therefore stop bad-mouthing his former club just because of the unfortunate situation in which the club found itself.

Let my reaction to Imbalambala’s not be misconstrued to mean I did not sympathise with their plight. I surely did, because, I am aware they too had financial obligations to their respective families and landlords.
However, my concern was their desertion of the club at the hour of need, which in my view was ill timed. And if they have any hope of one day returning to play for AFC Leopards, my advice to Imbalambala and his other colleagues like Willis Waliaula is to mend and patch up any disagreements with the club’s leadership. I’m sure they may wish to come back when Ingwe secures sponsorship to guarantee their monthly salary and gain exposure in the prestigious KPL League.