Elly Kalekwa explains why he has opted to close ranks with Bandari coach Ken Odhiambo.
Sofapaka president Elly Kalekwa has described Bandari coach Ken Odhiambo as ‘his son’ and forgiven him for his outrageous comments.
Odhiambo recently rubbed the football fraternity the wrong way over comments that Sofapaka was among those clubs providing low-quality ‘supermarket balls’ during Premier League matches, in a post-match interview after his side emerged 1-0 victors at their Mbaraki Grounds backyard on February 8.
This prompted Sofapaka to release official statement, condemning Ken Odhiambo’s claims as innaccurate, misleading and egoistical. Sofapaka urged that the FKF Premier League currently does not operate with standardized match balls despite different size 5 ball brands being used by different clubs.
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Kalekwa said his decision to close ranks with Odhiambo stems from the fact that he was bred at Sofapaka and his achievements with the 2009 champions are legendary.
“He was born at Sofapaka, he played for Sofapaka, he grew up at Sofapaka, he gave Sofapaka their first trophy, he helped us to win President’s Cup while featuring in the National Super League (NSL) while he was playing as a defender, and then he came back to train the same team, he is just like my son and I don’t want to discuss further the issue,” Kalekwa told Flashscore.
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“He clearly said that we are using balls from supermarkets, he is a son I sired and brought up, so couldn’t want action taken against him. When your son makes a mistake, you forgive him, and that is the rule of being a father, the kids will always abuse us, and they will forget where they came from”
Sofapaka have blown hot and cold this season and are ninth on the log with 28 points from 21 matches with Bandari are sixth on the log with 32 points. While their financial struggles are evident according to the statement, Kalekwa said it was unfair to hold a grudge against one of his own.
“It will be unfair for me to hold a grudge, he is my son, and he was here and coached Sofapaka, so I don’t want to dwell on the matter. It is over, we talked and I felt it was good to let it go.”
According to Odhiambo, who was the assistant coach understand previous Harambee Stars coach Engin Firat, most of the balls being provided by teams in the top flight are of low quality and can only be bought from supermarkets.
