When Ricardo Badoer took charge of Wazito FC in 2018, the team was in bad shape, it had lost all its good players during the mid-season transfer window due to lack of finances, many had predicted that the team would not last for another one year, despite his best efforts to avoid the drop the damage was already done, the team was relegated.
In the national Super League, the team recruited well as they plotted their return to the Kenyan Premier League. Despite some underwhelming results in some matches, Wazito managed to return to the Kenyan Premier League.
The team started making headlines. Salaries were paid on time, good winning allowances. Actually, in the National Super League, they paid the biggest winning bonuses in the country, better than all Kenyan Premier League teams, it slowly became every player’s dream team in Kenya.
At the start of the 2019/20 season the team recruited massively, they went for some high profile players. Much was expected of the team but they ended up disappointing.
Badoer has insisted that he did not sanction most of the signings done at the start of the season and was in fact against the acquisition of some of them, he was however convinced otherwise by the persons in charge of recruitment then.
It goes to show how much greed and personal interests some people harbor, Wazito would have performed better if those recruiting would have put the interests of the team at heart and not their own.
He was in charge of signings in January and the players brought on board have impressed massively. Dennis Ng’ang’a and Dennis Sikhayi are arguably some of the best full-backs in the country.
Kennedy Owino one of the best wingers and in Whyvonne Isuza is quality attacking midfielder. Roland Ashimoto and Alvin Ochieng are good young prospects and they will help the team when their time comes.
Like any other business, there must be returns on investments, Badoer decided to let go of some players in recently. It elicited bad and bitter reactions from part of the football fraternity in the country with some no so wise asking for Badoer’s deportation.
This is someone who had done so much for Kenyan football within a short time, he is someone who should be celebrated and not condemned because he had decided to make a business decision.
This was high-level hypocrisy from people who have milked Kenyan football dry for years. Over 60% of Kenyan Premier League clubs do not pay their players, Wazito is not one of them. It is the only team in which players are assured of their full salaries, allowances, medical cover, and much more.
Unlike many clubs that abandon players when they get bad injuries Badoer and Wazito attend to their own. Gor Mahia for example abandoned Curtis Wekesa, Shafik Batambuze, and Philemon Otieno when they picked knee injuries, the players had to literally beg online for well-wishers to come to their aid.
Wazito on the other hand has overseen surgeries for some of their players. This has been done in good hospitals. Bernard Ochieng, Zachary Gathu, Eric Odhiambo Dennis Gicheru, Teddy Osok, Abouba Sibomana just to name a few all underwent their underwent fully paid surgeries, they also had doctors from the club who took charge of their rehabilitation after surgery, a clear indication that this is a team that takes care of its players.
Kenyan football needs more Ricardo Badoer and less vocal hypocrites