Fired Tom Juma says ‘cartels killing Leopards’

The immediate AFC Leopards head coach Tom Juma says the club’s ambitions are being destroyed by ‘cartels’ in a sensational interview following his sacking.

Juma was fired on Monday, two days after he oversaw their 2-0 derby defeat to Gor Mahia which left them second last on the FKF Premier League standings.

But the tactician insisted there were deeper problems at the club that were hurting its chances of competing against the best, vowing he would not be silenced.  

"This thing called cartels is a big disease eating up and killing this team. I will not expound much on it but they are killing this team for sure. There is a committee that was formed to recruit players, something that I have never seen before.

“As a coach you need to have a say in the type of players a team is signing because of your style of play and how you would want to fit certain players into your system. If that is not the case then there is a big problem,” Juma said.

He insisted he was being used as a scapegoat and that his sacking was a mere attempt by the Leopards hierarchy to sweep Leopards’ problems under the carpet.

"For sure it has been a good experience but unfortunately things didn't go as we planned due to these challenges. You go to the training ground and train with the players but a lot of new players about 20 from different teams who needed time to gel.”

Leopards have only managed four points from six matches this season with only Sofapaka, who have one point, accumulating less.