Sierra Leonean international Kei Kamara who played for Dynamo has been shipped over to Kansas City in a move which has made the Sierra Leonean Forward Kei Kamara very unhappy with the circumstances leading to the deal.
He said he first knew something was wrong when as he put it, he was shut out of every practice drill ahead of the last match which they lost 2-1 at Columbus, coupled with the fact that he did not travel for that game. He stated that the team said he was nursing a nagging quadriceps strain, but Kamara later said that the same injury hadn’t stopped him from practicing or playing in the prior weeks. He knew his time with the Dynamo was up last Monday night, when, after two phone conversations with his coach, he was advised not to attend the next day’s workouts. A trade was in the works he said. Sure enough, as the team wrapped up practice ahead of the CONCACAF Champions League match at Pachuca, the Dynamo front office was busy shipping Kamara to the Kansas City Wizards in exchange for forward Abe Thompson and cash.
“I worked with the team so hard to help put the team in playoff position, and now and I don’t have anything against Kansas Cityyou’re sending me into a team that’s not in playoff position,” Kamara said via phone. “So you’re basically telling me that everything I’ve done for the whole year was for nothing.” “I was injured for four months (quad) and I played every single game of that. … I sacrificed everything for the team for them to put me in a position like this? I’m unhappy about it.”For everyone else in MLS circles, it was a surprise move by the Dynamo, one that had Kamara, 25, disputing the team’s assertion that it was strictly a business decision.
And one that likely left some fans scratching their heads. Not only had the Dynamo rid themselves of a starter and goal scorer, they had done it just as the team is in its most crucial stretch of the season. “It’s an unfortunate thing (the trade), but it’s the way we move in this situation,” Dynamo coach Dominic Kinnear said. “I wish (Kamara) luck. He is a good player.” Kinnear said the trade was driven by financial reasons. As a Generation Adidas player, Kamara has guaranteed compensation of about $65,000 for 2009 that doesn’t count against the team’s salary cap. Besides Kansas City, Toronto FC also showed interest in acquiring Kamara.
Kamara has five goals and one assist in 22 MLS appearances (20 starts) this season.
“We feel this is a good move that will help our team remain competitive for the remainder of this season and beyond,” Dynamo chief operating officer Chris Canetti said.
Also, Kamara and Kinnear had been at odds for much of the past month, and the coach may have felt the move was necessary to protect the integrity of the team chemistry. “We have too many games coming up for me to focus on off-the-field stuff that we can’t control,” Kinnear said
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