AFC Leopards head coach Patrick Aussems has fired a warning shot to the club's bigwigs, asking them to put their affairs in order before things boil over.
Aussems, who returned to the country in October after a three-month sojourn in his Belgium homeland, expressed concerns about the persistent delays in offsetting huge salary arrears owed to coaches, players and the rest of the staff.
“The technical bench, the staff and the players are facing many challenges (no salaries, no allowances, daily issues...) which prevent the group from working properly,” said Aussems.
“Carelessness of some people? Lack of professionalism? Hopefully, this situation will be fixed as quickly as possible,” he added.
His grave concerns have emerged exactly a week after Amani National Congress (ANC) leader Musalia Mudavadi chipped in with Sh1 million individual donation to keep the cash-strapped club afloat.
“The contribution was a top-up to our October salary and also facilitated the Wundanyi trip to honour our FKF-PL match against Sofapaka FC,” the club had revealed then.
Mudavadi's donation came hot on the heels of a palmy fundraiser at a Nairobi hotel on October 2 that left the side Sh8 million richer.
On that particular occasion, a local ensemble of high profile dignitaries, led by President Uhuru Kenyatta and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, heeded a rallying call to salvage the 13-time Kenyan champions from the jaws of a huge financial mess that had jolted their smooth operations and threatened their 57-year existence.
After the fundraiser, assistant coach Tom Juma said they would use part of the funds to settle colossal dues being demanded by former players in a bid to scuttle a ban that had been imposed by the world football governing body, Fifa.
"We lost many players at the end of the preceding season and as such, we urgently need to embrace the ongoing transfer window to strengthen our squad. But as things stand now, we cannot bring in new players following the far-reaching Fifa ban," said Juma.
On March 23, Fifa imposed far-reaching sanctions that blocked Leopards from signing new players for two transfer windows after they failed to settle a Sh1.8 million debt owed to Rwandan midfielder Vincent Habamahoro.
Fifa cracked the whip after Leopards failed to beat the prescribed 45-day ultimatum.
The decision was a huge blow to Leopards who were left limping following a mass exodus that witnessed the departure of their star players at the end of the preceding season.
Those who bolted included Congolese midfield maestro Fabrice Mgheni, former skipper Robinson Kamura, custodian John Oyemba, utility player Clyde Senaji and striker Elvis Rupia.
