‘Ghost’ Mulee alleges Comoros lied to instill fear in Kenya players over Covid-19 results

Harambee Stars coach Jacob ‘Ghost’ Mulee has called on the Confederation of African Football (Caf) to investigate the conduct of Comoros officials after they claimed six Kenyan players were Covid-19 positive before their reverse fixture on Sunday.

The Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match was forced to start 30 minutes late after Comoros officials claimed six players from Kenya’s national team were Covid-19 positive and lodged a complaint with Caf to have all the players tested again before the game could kick-off.

However, after the long standoff Caf officials allowed Kenya to play the match with certificates they had received from Nairobi as they travelled to Comoros for the match which the home team won 2-1.

Mulee has now told Goal it was unfortunate for Comoros to allegedly use such dirty tricks which he said instilled fear in his players and hence affected the team’s performance and has further called on Caf to investigate the matter and take appropriate action.

“It was very unfortunate the match was delayed for a long period because Comoros tried to lie and unsettle my players by saying some of them were Covid-19 positive," Mulee told Goal when the team arrived from Comoros on Monday.

"It was all false and I hope Caf will step in and take action because the standoff instilled fear in my players,” 

“We left Kenya after we had already been tested for Covid-19 and what they did they tried to target some of our key players with the false rumours, and I am happy Caf stepped in and said we play with the Covid-19 certificates that we had [from Kenya] because their target was to have our key players barred from playing in the match but Caf came in and said we play.”

On fans being allowed to watch Comoros match in Moroni while the first meeting was played without fans at Kasarani Stadium, Mulee explained: “I think we as Kenyans should also put in place plans and know yes we have Covid-19 but have the fans back to the stadium.

“All we need is to put tough measures in place and also plan on how to have fans back into the stadium [like other nations are doing], and you know Comoros did exactly that and they were granted permission by Caf.”

On his promise to the fans after losing the away match, Mulee said: “I love soccer, like every Kenyan, but we are not good enough to play [because our league is suspended], we must have our league back, and then we can talk.

“We don’t have a league being played in the country and it is affecting our national team’s performance, unless we start playing then I will keep using the players I tend to think are fit to play.”

After the loss, Kenya are now on three points after four Group G games, five points behind the islanders, and will host the Pharaohs on March 22 before wrapping up their campaign with a trip to Lome against Togo on March 30.