NAIROBI, March 20– “We should be focusing on FIFA international calendar for a friendly rather than squabbling over who is in control of the Premier League.”
Those are sagely words of Harambee Stars and Norway’s Lillestrome first choice keeper, Arnold Origi, who accused both Football Kenya Federation and Kenyan Premier League of failing to consider interest of players in their standoff.
Origi, who spoke to Capital Sport on Thursday during the Gor Mahia and Bandari KPL clash at Nairobi’s City Stadium, was disappointed that Kenya has not confirmed any fixture despite the FIFA calendar opening this weekend.
“It’s very unfortunate that we are in this situation. We had made good progress in the (premier) league and the focus would have been trying to make it more professional instead of trying to get control of it.
“We have not heard anything about friendly and yet we want to compete with other countries who are preparing adequately. It’s been a norm in Kenya that we make one step forward and three backwards,” Origi who is in the country after being bereaved lamented.
With Kenya busy battling over who should run the 2015 Premier League between FKF and KPL, neighbours Uganda Cranes nailed a date with 2013 African Champions, Nigeria for an international build-up match on next Wednesday.
Origi, who joined Stars captain and English Premier League’s Southampton midfielder, Victor Wanyama and record scorer Dennis Oliech among others in advocating for sanity in the game; fears endless wrangles will rob players of their dreams.
-Shattered dreams-
“Trying to say we should have parallel leagues and then a play-off at the end of the season will not resolve the problem because at the end of the day it’s us (players) who suffer.
“We have dreams and ambitions of playing in the Nations Cup or maybe one day at World Cup but, in this situation there is no chance of us realizing our dreams and it’s very depressing,” the 33-year-old shot stopper declared.
Origi, cousin to Divock who trades for France league 1’s Lille on loan from Liverpool FC called on both warring factions to resolve the stalemate as soon as possible for the interest of players.
“The ongoing wrangles show how incompetent our managers are; they need to meet and put listen want the players want because they are the main actors. Their pride and personal interest is not important at this stage.
“We are losing a lot of talent, the likes of Divock who chose to play for other countries because there is nothing to show for in Kenya but if our house was in order i think he could have been with us,” the custodian who is set to depart Sunday for Norway Premier League pre-season underscored.
