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The two tacticians were involved in a touchline altercation that has seen matters escalate off the pitch
A legal battle is on the horizon involving Tusker FC coach Robert Matano and his AFC Leopards counterpart Patrick Aussems after the latter failed to apologise to the former over his ‘juju man’ jibe.
Matano had on April 13 demanded a written apology from the Belgian in the next three days failure to which he would begin court proceedings against him for what he deemed a defamatory social media post.
“Unfortunately, we have been punished at the last minute due to a lack of aggression! Congratulations to the players of Tusker," Aussems posted on Twitter on April 6, a day after the two coaches had an altercation on the touchline, as Leopards lost 1-0 to Tusker in a league match.
"Of course, l won't talk about an old coach with no international experience who is more of a djudju [Juju] man than a tactician... one could learn," he added.
That saw Matano take legal action, sending a demand letter to Aussems through his legal representatives Wambilianga Majani and Associates, demanding a written apology which should be further published on the Leopards coach’s Twitter account in the next three days, failure to which he would institute full legal proceedings against him.
“The said words in their natural meaning and in the context of the aforesaid publication meant and was understood by those reading the publication to mean that our client as a coach lacks requisite knowledge of football,” the demand letter read.
“Further by calling our client a djudju (juju) man, you insinuated that our client is a witch, sorcerer, evil, black magician, warlock and/or practices black magic, especially for evil purposes.
“The said statement is false and malicious and only meant to stain his good reputation as he is a highly-respected coach not just in Kenya but in East Africa. Our client is a national hero with a rich profile both as a footballer and coach filled with success.”
However, by Tuesday morning, Aussems was yet to apologise, either in written or on social media, setting the stage for what could be an unusual legal battle within the Kenyan football fraternity.
Surprisingly, Matano is a paid-up life member of Leopards and it will be interesting to see how he handles the delicate matter that involves the team he works for and the one he supports.
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