Wanyama: I did not shortchange my teammates over bonuses, FKF pocketed it

Harambee Stars captain Victor Wanyama has dismissed claims that he unilateraly made decision over cash bonusses that were to be awarded to the team for their African Cup of Nations campaign in June 2019.



Stars players were promised KSh250,000 each for their 3-2 win against Tanzania during the continental showpiece but that has remained just that, an empty promise with defender Aboud Omar dragging his captain into the debacle.



According to Omar, the captain opted to negotiate the deal with FKF at the expense of the team, thus occasioning them a raw deal.



“The federation said they had talked with the captain after they had received the KSh250 million (from the government. Victor (Wanyama) had made a decision on our behalf and according to me, it wasn’t the best of ways of doing things. I told him it wasn’t a good move since I felt they could have asked for our opinion on the same.”



But speaking to Madgoat TV on Monday, the former Tottenham Hotspur man rubbished the claims as baseless, maintaining that he sought the opinion of everyone and was also alive to the funds that had been allocated as bonuses.



“FKF was allocated about KSh250 million to cater for the whole AFCON bonanza. Within that, the playing unit had also been allocated KSh50 million for the entire campaign, so I find it foolish for one to purport that I was negotiating anything,” Wanyama said.



He added that when FKF decided to slash the 50 million he rallied his teammates together to find a middle ground.



” Nick (Mwendwa) came to us before our qualification match away to Ghana and he was requesting that they slash our budget to KSh 35 million but I protested the move and told them that such would be too little because we had a big squad.



“We then had a roundtable talk with the players present and the federation and we settled on KSh38 million but Aboud wasn’t present (he was suspended), nonetheless I explained to him what had happened.”



The former Southampton lynchpin clarified that players who had taken part in the Afcon campaign journey had been paid according to the matches they played but they were yet to receive the winning bonus against Taifa Stars .



“All the players who had taken part in the campaign to Cairo received something as per the matches they took part in. Even those who were in the bench were paid.



” As regards the fate of the KSh250,000 bonus, it has been promises after another. After AFCON I told the federation that we want the money settled in our first international assignment which was away to Egypt. That was never to be and when we played against Togo at home the trend was the same until coronavirus happened.”