Bandari FC coach Ken Odhiambo alleged that the balls used by Sofapaka were of the supermarket standard.
Sofapaka have responded to Bandari coach Ken Odhiambo’s scathing attack regarding the substandard match balls in their recent FKF Premier League fixture at Mbaraki Stadium, Mombasa
Speaking after the match, Odhiambo, who guided guided his charges to the 1-0 win, did not hold back in his criticism, calling on the federation to enforce higher standards for essential aspects of the game.
Bandari overcame Sofapaka 1-0 last weekend, but head coach Ken Odhiambo tore into his former employers for bringing such low quality standard balls to the game, further making a rallying plea to the Federation to do something about the situation.
“The qualities of balls teams are bringing to the league are a joke. What kind of Premier League is this where teams can bring balls of such low standard?” Odhiambo asked in frustration.
Former league champions have addressed the claims saying that KFK does not operate with standardized match balls, dismissing Odhiambo’s unfounded claims as inaccurate and misleading.
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Zedekiah ‘Zico’ Otieno has been relegated to serve as assistant to newly appointed Gor Mahia coach Sinisa Mihic.
“We have taken not of the demeaning remarks made by one of our former coach who is currently the head coach of Bandari FC, Ken Ochieng, regarding our financial struggles and the alleged use of small-sized substandard match balls during our recent away fixture against his team,” the statement read in part.
“Regarding the match balls, it is important to emphasize that the FKF Premier League does not operate with standardized match balls despite different size 5 ball brands being used by different clubs including his.
“The unnecessary claims by coach Ken despite his team being the home team that our soccer balls were substandard are misleading and only creates unnecessary excuses and distraction from his coaching performance and ego dedpite coaching one of the heaviest funded clubs.”
A former Sofapaka head coach himself, Odhiambo insisted that the use of poor-quality balls was damaging to the league’s integrity and overall development.
