For unknown reasons Nairobi City Stars superstar Oliver Maloba has taken to the length of not showing up in training, and for league games, for three and a half weeks now.
Going absent without without official leave for Maloba has puzzled Nairobi City Stars establishment who are in the dark over his whereabouts as he is unreachable on his regular telephone lines.
According to City Stars team coordinator Samson Otieno, the gifted Maloba, an offensive midfielder, last appeared in training on Tuesday 11 February 2020, three days after a league game against Coast Stima at Camp Toyoyo.
“That Tuesday he showed up for training after two rest days. That was the last time we saw him. We can’t reach him on his phone lines, and we have no idea where he is or what he is up to. We are only receiving bits and pieces of information on his whereabouts but nothing satisfactory,”
“We had a game the other day at Toyoyo against Kenya Police and we were at pains to explain to the fans why he was missing from the match day squad. He has always been a crowd favorite and most of them come to watch him. We now want the same fans to help us track him down,” added Otieno
Team coach Sanjin Alagic is equally lost following Maloba’s absenteeism.
“I left for a two-week holiday after the Coast Stima game and when I returned, I was given information that he only appeared once for training once. I have sent several players and members of the technical bench to look for him he is still yet to show up in training. At this point we have to proceed with our plans for the rest of the season without him.”
Commenting on the same club CEO Patrick Korir had this to say; “When a player fails to attend training and does not communicate it becomes a big concern. It’s more worrisome when he can’t be reached on the contacts provided in his status file. As club we are left with no choice but to make it public as it is now three and a half weeks since we last saw him.”
Maloba is one of City Stars top performers at City Stars this season having scored five goals, provided six assists and named Most Valuable Player (MVP) six times from 23 games played.