The duo are among the players set to be shipped out of the Den as Ingwe weeds out the ‘bad apples’ following recent internal strife
Peter Thiong’o and Eugene Mukangula are on their way out of AFC Leopards after they were stripped off the captaincy role by the club for allegedly leading a go slow.
Leopards announced on Wednesday that the duo will no longer wear the armband in what was viewed as punishment after the squad went on strike and boycotted training ahead of last Sunday’s Football Kenya Federation Premier League match away to Vihiga Bullets, which they lost 2-1.
The players were allegedly demanding payment of part of their salary which was outstanding while they were also said not to have been happy that a Ksh1 million token awarded to them by President William Ruto for winning the Mashemeji derby was used to pay part of their salaries.
It is now emerging that the two, whose contracts expire at the end of this season, will be among those being shipped out as the club clears out the ‘bad apples’ in readiness for the transfer window where Leopards are expected to be busy, having failed to sign players in the past window due to a transfer ban.
“The issue was the 25 percent of their salary that was remaining but everything is up to date now,” Leopards chairman Dan Shikanda told Pulse Sports.
“The damage they did cannot be retrieved. It’s now up to the coach to decide. He will give us names of those he wants in and the ones he wants to drop. It is his prerogative.
“But in case of any indiscipline, we have a mechanism that will ensure we weed out anyone who is inciting or influencing other players not to behave. We just stripped them off the captaincy but its is the coach to decide if they will play.”
Mukangula and Thiong’o are among the senior players at Leopards who have had to rely on a number of youngsters this season due to their transfer ban.
Their form has, however, been poor as they are on course for one of their lowest finishes in the league, sitting seventh on the log with 48 points.
Ingwe have won just two of their last 11 games, the poor run including five defeats and four draws, which has seen them slip down the table.
They will also extend their trophyless run to six years, having been knocked out of the FKF Cup semi-final by Kakamega Homeboyz last month. Patrick Aussems’ men face Sofapaka next and it will be interesting to see who is selected as captain for that encounter.