WHY TUSKER ARE NOT PLAYING LIKE CHAMPS: Sharing of KPL bonus brings disquiet at Ruaraka

Tusker players celebrate winning the 2016 Kenyan Premier League after beating AFC Leopards 1-0 at Afraha Stadium, Nakuru, on Sunday November 6, 2016. [PHOTOS: STAFFORD ONDEGO/WWW.SPORTPICHA.COM]

Tusker’s humiliating 5-2 loss to Nzoia United and a limp performance in the CAF Champions may have been a result of disquiet.

The disquiet revolved around sharing of Sh4.25 million in double winning bonuses (Kenyan Premier League and GOtv Shield), FeverPitch can reveal.

The 11-time domestic champions ended the 2016 season Sh6.5m richer after pocketing Sh4.5m for winning the league, Sh1m for lifting GOtv and Sh1m appreciation token from the team’s sponsors Kenya Breweries Ltd through their flagship brand, Tusker.

The club management was to take half of the KPL title money and leave the rest to the players and technical bench members to share equally.

But there is more than meets the eye in the brewers’ performance in their first three competitive matches of the season.

Tusker have unexpectedly had a stuttering start to the season, failing to win a single game under their new George Nsimbe-led technical bench.

The brewers were eliminated from the Champions league by minnows AS Port Louis 2000 of Mauritius after losing 3-2 on aggregate before they were given a reality check by KPL newcomers Nzoia Sugar last weekend.

Now, reports emerging from the Ruaraka-based outfit indicate that a section of players are unhappy with the way the officials handled the prize money.

They feel the officials short-changed them.

Documents in our possession indicate after all deductions including a ‘hefty’ withholding tax of Sh26,050 per individual, the playing unit (24) and six members of technical bench), went home with Sh61,450 each.

“It is really saddening, but that doesn’t mean we are losing intentionally. The results have just not gone our way. But the fact is, we are unhappy and not motivated; we feel the management short-changed us. We are suffering in silence as everybody is feeling unappreciated. It will be difficult to retain the title,” said a senior player who sought anonymity.

“The explanation for this disparity is senseless. Nobody can say they used part of the money for CAF preparation and paying tax.

“For your information, we were to get half of the KPL prize money (Sh4.5m). How can the share be the same with that from the company?

“More-so, we got only an allowance increment of Sh20,000 for the title decider against AFC Leopards last year. The rest was just a prank.”

However, Tusker chairman Daniel Aduda dismissed the reports, terming them ‘baseless’.

“Those are mere allegations. We just finished meeting with the players and some of the issues have been addressed. But I can tell you for free, no single player brought up that issue. We met not because we lost to Nzoia, but because we wanted to hear their concerns and grievances.

“You can talk to the treasurer because the players’ payment is in his docket and I don’t want to jump the ship.

“He is in a better position to make more clarification. You can even visit our offices to discuss with him,” Aduda told FeverPitch on phone just after meeting the players at Ruaraka Grounds yesterday.

Interestingly, Tusker’s double winning coach Paul Nkata, who joined Bandari ahead of the new season, is also yet to be paid his double winning bonuses.

“I have not been paid even a single cent. They said I have to return the track-suit for me to be paid, but my assistant was never asked to return it. I don’t know if the track suit is worth the two titles we won.

“We were to share the money among ourselves, but that never came to pass,” said a disappointed Nkata.