'They Didn't Talk to Me' - Mike Origi Reveals the Real Reason Divock Chose Belgium Over Kenya's Harambee Stars

Divock Origi’s father, Mike Origi, has set the record straight on why his son chose to represent Belgium and not the Harambee Stars of Kenya.

Born in Belgium to Harambee Stars legend Mike Origi, Divock Origi faced a significant career crossroads when choosing which nation to represent on the international stage.

Despite reports that there was persistent interest and recruitment efforts from the Football Kenya Federation, the young forward ultimately accepted a call-up to the Belgian senior squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

At the moment, Divock Origi described the opportunity as a dream come true, feeling a deep connection to the Belgian youth system where he had developed his skills since childhood.

His decision was immediately rewarded when he became the youngest Belgian goalscorer in World Cup history by netting a crucial late winner against Russia in Brazil.

Speaking on Sporty FM, Mike Origi explained that, initially, no one from the Football Kenya Federation was even aware that his son, Divock Origi, was pursuing a football career.

He said that because they did not know he was playing, there was never an opportunity for them to approach him about representing Kenya internationally.

According to Mike Origi, it was only after Divock Origi received a call-up from Belgium that he began to realise the situation. He added that nobody had reached out to him directly, instead, he learned about the developments through interviews and media reports.

Mike Origi noted that the Kenyan coach at the time was Adel Amrouche, someone he was familiar with through his other son, Arnold Origi, and knew had Belgian connections.

He clarified that while Amrouche had discussed Divock with Arnold, he himself had not been consulted at any point.

“First of all, they never even knew Divock was playing football. So there's no way they could have approached me to say that they want him to play for Kenya. They knew that later on, when Divock was called up for the Belgium selection,” Mike Origi explained.

“That's when... I just saw, nobody talked to me personally anyway. I just saw interviews. The coach was Adel Amrouche…I know Amrush. He worked with Arnold. So I knew him.

“And he's also from Belgium. He's Algerian, I think. Algerian and Belgian. He's from Belgium. So I knew him. So when he heard about Divock, he talked to Arnold. They didn't talk to me.”

Mike Origi added that he often learned about developments regarding Divock from newspapers, since he was not directly consulted about his son’s international career.

The Harambee Stars legend explained that it was difficult to respond to every story in the media, as he did not receive firsthand communication from anyone regarding Divock Origi.

Mike Origi reflected on the process of acceptance, noting that Divock Origi, at around 18 years old, was already an adult and had been fully integrated into the Belgian football system from a young age, progressing through all the youth levels.

“No, that's a difficult question to answer. Acceptance, you know, at the age of, then Divock was 18, I think, 18 years old. And he was already an adult. And he went through the Belgian youth system. In the national team, they are from under 15,” he added.

“He didn't play for the under-21 because when he was with the under-19, that's when he was called to the national team of Belgium. So for me, it was just obvious. There was nobody who contacted me. And for him also, he was used to that system.”

Mike Origi concluded that Divock Origi is very familiar with Kenya, having spent every holiday there with the family.

However, he made the personal decision to represent Belgium internationally, and according to Mike Origi, there was never any alternative or consideration for him to play for Kenya.