Mariga blasts Mwendwa over ‘lack of talent’ comment

Former Kenyan midfielder Macdonald Mariga has hit out at Football Kenya Federation (FKF) president Nick Mwendwa over his recent comments about the state of football in the country. In a series of tweets, Mariga who is not known to publicly comment on the political side of football, also claimed that the standards of football in the country have 'gone backwards' under Mwendwa. https://twitter.com/MarigaOfficial/status/1448265813027430401?s=20   Mariga has also demanded that Mwendwa apologizes for these comments. https://twitter.com/MarigaOfficial/status/1448266501136474113?s=20

Mariga made the comments in response to a statement recently made by Mwendwa in an interview on NTV's The Game plan show.

“Even if you bring Mourinho, even if you bring Arteta (Harambee Stars will still struggle)," Mwendwa told show host Carol Radull, in response to a question as to why Kenya struggled against Uganda, Rwanda, and Mali in the recent 2022 Fifa World Cup qualifiers. “The work that needs to be done is that we need to bring the talent to the table. For you to win, you need quality players. You guys know Moussa Djenepo, do we have a player like him? We have to build him and that is the reason we are training coaches to go to the grassroots and find our Moussa Djenepo, they can find a [Yves] Bissouma to compete with the likes of Mali.” Mariga is the most successful East African footballer of all time, thanks to his stint at Italian club Inter Milan, where under the tutelage of famed coach Jose Mourinho, he won both the UEFA Champions League, Italia Serie A title, and Coppa Italia Cup. Mariga's comments come weeks after his younger brother Victor Wanyama quit the national team in mysterious circumstances. Mwendwa is currently under pressure following Kenya's under-par performance at the 2022 Fifa World Cup qualifiers.