NAIROBI, Kenya, February 25 – AFC Leopards coach Gilbert Selebwa has been suspended indefinitely.Club secretary Richard Ekhalie told the media on Wednesday that the tactician had been suspended for undermining club officials and inciting players.
“We have had to suspend Selebwa because of a number of issues which we feel have affected the club immensely,” He said.
Consequently, assistant coach Edward Manoah will take temporary charge until the club forges a way foreword.
“He will be in charge of the players for the time being and will be on the bench for Saturday’s match against Gor Mahia,” said the club supremo.
Ekhalie however was quick to reiterate that Selebwa remains with the club, “We have not sacked him and he is still with the club.”
The club official however admitted that the club was speaking to possible replacements for Selebwa who worked tirelessly to get the club back in the Kenya Premier League after two years in the lower reaches.
“We have held talks with a number of candidates but as it stands, we haven’t agreed a deal with anyone,” he stressed.
At the same time, AFC has unveiled a mobile phone fan drive campaign. The club will attempt to recruit fans to the club using a mobile phone with fans subscribing to a service which will keep them to date with club news.
“Fans will be able to register at a coast of Sh50 and will then receive all information about the club,” he said.
Ekhalie added that they have set themselves a target of two million fans signing up on the service, “If we can get two million people each putting in Sh50, then we will be able to raise Sh100 million which would more than help our club run smoothly.”
He also appealed on the club’s fans to exercise restraint during premier league matches, “We are asking our fans to behave accordingly because we have many enemies and we do not want to give them room to victimise us.”
AFC has already lost three points after the Independent Disciplinary and Appeals Committee awarded Nairobi City Stars their abandoned match after Leopards’ fans poured onto the stadium.
“We have already appealed against the decision to punish us for what happened at Hope Centre and hopefully we will get a good decision,” said Ekhalie.