Sports Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has clarified that the government did not support the Women Amputee Football team after spending their night at the Frankfurt Airport in Germany.
The team was returning in the country after competing at the Amputee World Cup in Colombia to finish 4th when they lost to Poland by 1-0 in their third-place playoff match.
With that Murkomen said that the government did not abandon the team instead accusing some individuals for taking videos for ill motives.
In part of his rejoinder, Murkomen wrote: “Contrary to the misleading claims circulating online, no complaints were raised by the players, managers, or accompanying ministry officials. Unfortunately, someone abused their privileged access by capturing video content without consent, violating the team’s privacy and misrepresenting the situation as abandonmen.”
“During the 3-hour layover, Lufthansa made special arrangements to accommodate the team in a reserved airport lounge equipped with beds— a rare courtesy that allowed the team to rest comfortably as they awaited their flight. Murkomen added: “The team members did not have Schengen visas, which prevented them from staying in hotels outside the airport. Considering their special needs, Lufthansa provided suitable in-airport accommodation, which was not even extended to the accompanying officials.”
“Prior to their departure, the team players and officials were paid all their local training expenses as well as competition and travel allowances for the 7 days in local training camp and 9 days for the foreign competition including and up to the time they arrive in Nairobi tonight. The allowances are international standard rates that are paid to all athletes representing their country and cover personal needs such as meals. The CS added: “The travel arrangements included the most convenient routing from Colombia to Nairobi via Europe, flying Lufthansa, having departed Colombia on 11th November. The team arrived in Frankfurt at 4:00 PM with a scheduled connection to Nairobi at 11:00 AM today.