Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Bittersweet Day for Kamara

There was some good news and some bad news today involving Kei Kamara.  The good news first, Kamara, along with midfielder Roger Espinoza were named as reserves for the MLS All Star team.  In regards to the MLS game tonight it means little, neither one traveled to Philadelphia for the game, they weren't part of the roster.  The reason they were named as all stars is because it is part off the collective bargaining agreement between MLS and the players union.  There had to be 13 more players named as all stars.  Kamara and Espinoza earned the calls for Sporting.  What that means for the players is that they'll get their bonus for being an "all star" which is certainly a good thing for those guys.

Espinoza wouldn't have been able to play anyway as he's in London with Honduras for the Olympics.  They kick off their Olympic campaign tomorrow against Morrocco in Glasgow Scotland.

On the opposite side of things, some bad news for Kamara personally (but good news for Sporting KC).  Today, Kamara was suspended from the Sierra Leone national team "indefinitely."  Kamara and the national team captain, Ibrahim Kargbo have been suspended for having "frequently shown contempt to the Sport Minister Paul Kamara and football officials.  The pair were also accused of making inciting, derogatory statements and threatening remarks on air against football authorities."

It's the third time that Kamara has been suspended by his national team for comments made about the FA and sports authority.  It seems that the comments this time were in response to the refunding of air tickets, match fees and bonuses and other things.  Kamara has usually made his comments via Twitter usually after his trip and the last one was really no different when he made comments about the country being behind the team but not necessarily the FA and sporting authority joining the rest of the country behind the team.

It's a sad thing for Kamara and his international career but a good thing for Sporting KC, as Kamara will now not miss time heading to Sierra Leone for the Leone Stars African Cup of nations qualifier against Tunisia in September (7-9) and October (12-14).  In a critical part of the season it will be nice to have Kamara available for selection.

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