Financial constraints forced Football Kenya Federation (FKF) to make the contentious two-month employment of underachieving tactician Engin Firat, federation box Nick Mwendwa revealed.Speaking via a phone interview on Radio Jambo, Mwendwa said that the decision to hand Firat a two-month contract was for the good of Kenyans in general and the Federation.He went ahead to draw examples on how decisions to hand length contracts to some coaches who later parted ways with the Federation left the football body with huge debts to pay.”We tried a local coach at the beginning for two years but he did not do well so we decided to try foreign coaches. We went to Paul Put but he left after a short time because the money he demanded was too much. We then went for Sebastien Migne who took us to the Cup of Nations but the bill was too high. At that time the government had agreed to pay Migne but even then towards the end of the contract the government was not able to pay him, so we had to clear the bill. We then elevated Francis Kimanzi but again we parted ways mutually then went for Ghost Mulee because we had faith in local coaches but because of other reasons I cannot state we agreed to part ways with Mulee also. So we went back to check our CVs and see which high-level coach we could give this job on a short-term basis. There is a systematic way that made us make that decision and in case we have to part ways with the coach now, we will not have to pay those huge sums,” Mwendwa explained.Football Kenya Federation has unveiled Engin Firat as the new coach for the national football team, The Harambee Stars🔗 https://t.co/00YqH7wzde pic.twitter.com/HnS8TiTtzF— Football Kenya Federation (@Football_Kenya) September 19, 2021 The President further added that Firat’s engagement would be evaluated at the end and the Federation would take the next step depending on how satisfactory both teams would be.At the unveiling, Mwendwa said that Firat’s main task would be to take Kenya through the World Cup qualifiers, and would be in charge for the four games against mali twice, Uganda way, and Rwanda at home.”Previously, we have had a problem with coaches. As you know, we had to pay Adel Amrouche 100M because of bad decision, and we are paying Bob Williamson 53 million even for work he did not do. Because of that, we are very cautious about who we give the job to and how the job is done. We had to find a coach who was not going to cost the Federation an arm and a leg, and the way to do that was to find a coach who would take us through the World Cup journey, and once we finish that and he does well we make the next step. After these three matches, we are not going to incur any hefty bills on a coach if, for example, a coach will go. there will be no financial impact on Kenyans and the Federation. Money from FIFA that would have gone to the grassroots football development, we have paid Amrouche and we are continuing to pay Williamson,” he added.Hold up and be patient, Firat will come good, assures Olunga https://t.co/zQy0dJooMb— Mozzart Sport Kenya (@MozzartSportKe) October 9, 2021 Firat is the sixth coach under Nick Mwendwa’s regime, with Stanley Okumbi, Paul Put, Sebastien Migne, Francis Kimanzi, and Jacob “Ghost” Mulee having all served in the same capacity since 2016.
