Ulinzi Stars have been handed a massive blow in their quest to clinch the Kenyan Premier League title after their forward Oscar Wamalwa was ruled out for the remaining bit of the season.
The Harambee Stars striker will be unavailable till next season after dislocating his shoulder during their last weekend match against AFC Leopards at the Afraha Stadium.
Wamalwa, the 2019 Cecafa Senior Challenge ‘Golden Boot’ winner was stretchered off in the dying minutes of the game after a colliding with burly Leopards defender Collins Shivachi.
Upon examination by team doctor John Imboywa,the towering hitman was rushed to Mediheal Hospital in Nakuru for scans to ascertain the extent of the injury.
The striker who has seven league goals to his name will now go under the knife according to Imboywa. The soldiers are placed fifth on the log with 35 points— nine behind league leaders Gor Mahia
“The season is over for him because he needs surgery to get his shoulder back so that he may be able to play again. It is a big blow but we want to ensure he is back to his best again,” said Imboywa on the club’s official social media pages
Meanwhile, the club has denied any wrong doing in the transfer of banned Kakamega Homeboyz defender Festus Okiring.
The player was among the three players handed a four year ban by world’s governing body Fifa for allegedly manipulating the outcome of matches at Homeboyz.
The other banned players are Festo Omukoto and Moses Chikati. Ugandan national and former Tusker man George Mandela who also feature for Homeboyz was slapped with a lifetime ban.
Ulinzi’ s head coach Benjamin Nyangweso claims that by the time Fifa’s communique was out, the player had already joined the Recruits Training School but remained tight lipped on the next course of action for fear of breach of protocol. Efforts to reach the Kenya Defence Forces spokesperson Colonel Paul Njuguna were futile.
“We signed a player whom we believed would be a quality addition in the team in the subsequent seasons. We were not aware like anybody else that he had been involved in match fixing. The communication from Fifa came late but I am not in a position to comment on the issue,” said the 2010 league winning tactician.
