AFC Leopards will not hand new deals to midfielder Eugene Mukangula and winger cum right-back Peter Thiong’o, club secretary general Gilbert Andugu has confirmed.
This comes barely a day after the pair were stripped of the captaincy and assistance roles, respectively, at the club. The decision was arrived at by the club over what they termed increasing cases of indiscipline within the playing unit.
The decision by the playing unit to boycott training on Friday and threaten not to honor Sunday’s league match against Vihiga Bullets irked the management, who moved with speed to demote their two captains; they have yet to name their replacements.
The pair’s contracts expire at the end of July, and Andugu has made it clear that the two will depart the club. Mukangula is one of the longest-serving players at the club, having joined the team in June 2018 from Thika United. Thiong’o, on the other hand, signed for Ingwe in November 2020.
“Yes, they will leave the club when their contracts expire. Their contracts expire at the end of July, and we are not going to renew their contracts,” Andugu told Mozzart Sport.
The football administrator added that the pair failed to show leadership when the playing unit decided to down tools.
“They were captains and failed to show leadership and commitment to the club; we cannot continue with such players, and that is how we arrived at the decision; we want to have a team of players that are loyal and want to represent the team,” he added.
He sounded a warning to the rest of the players that incidences of go-slows would not be tolerated at the club going forward.
“It is something that we do not want to see happen again. We have not had financial problems this season, and we explained to the players why we paid part of their salaries and when they were to expect the rest.
The decision to go slow was an unfortunate one, and we have made it clear that there is no room for such behavior now or in the future,” he added.
