Make “#Wacha Hooliganism” the catchphrase for 2014
By the 2013 season, Gor Mahia fans had gone a colossal 18 seasons without winning the league title. Having come very close in 2012, they were determined to secure the title. Hence the catchphrase #GINIWASEKAO which dominated discussions in the blogosphere and in social media.
In 2014, the crisis du jour is one of public perception. Unfortunately, the Gor Mahia and to a lesser extent AFC Leopards have become synonymous with hooliganism. This despite the fact that 90% of Gor Mahia fans are peace loving fans who bring colour to the Kenya Premier league.
The misbehaviour of a small segment of the fan base has sullied the club’s name. It has also given free reign to those who hate the club for sporting reasons or for political reasons to pile all manner of unfair criticisms. There are those who wait with bated breath for the slightest incident involving Gor Mahia fans to pile on in the media, in blogs, in social media and in general discussions.
Worse still, the behaviour of a few fans may have cost the club a sponsorship. Its not clear what caused Tuzo not to renew the sponsorship. But the sudden cancellation of the three year sponsorship coincided with widely transmitted images of Gor Mahia fans lifting chairs from Nyayo stadium. That incident may have been the straw that broke the camel’s back as far as Tuzo was concerned. And even if it was not the cause, it certainly did not help.
In January, chairman Ambrose Rachier vowed to deal with hooliganism by saying: “I am going to deal with hooliganism in the stadium even if it means being unpopular,” said Rachier. “I know we have talked about it for so long but I think I am going to take a different approach. It has so many facets.” . Those promises however have not appeased detractors.
Gor Mahia will eventually land another sponsor. With Gor Mahia matches being transmitted to televisions all over the continent, the club offers an excellent avenue for a company that wants to get instant name recognition.
Attendance
Aside from that, hooliganism hinders many fans especially casual fans from attending matches. It is likely that attendance at Gor Mahia matches would increase by as much as 50% if there was no expectation of hooliganism. And as bad luck would have it the fans who sneak into the stadium without tickets by scaling the fence or bribing policemen are the ones who are likely to engage in acts of hooliganism.
Loss of points
In 2014, KPL has come up with a new rule whereby points will be docked for hooliganism. If there is any reason to curb hooliganism that might have an impact on hooligans it must be this one.
Good Fans are the key
It is refreshing to see some Gor Mahia fans already taking steps such as handing over misbehaving fans to the police. More than that however, fans must also take it upon themselves to sensitize other fans about the need to behave themselves when they are at the stadium or when walking around with that green jersey on.
Making #Wacha Hooliganism the catchphrase for 2014 is only a small part of fighting the menace of hooliganism. But its an important start. It can be Wacha Hooliganism, Toa hooliganism, weuru hooliganism or any variation thereof. The bottomline is that fans of goodwill must make hooligans realize that there is no place for them at Gor Mahia.
Gor’s fans have been peaceful in 2014. I suspect that the author of this article beleives that Gor’s fans will go on a rampage should Gor loose the next game given the happenings at camp Gor of late. The author is therefore reminding the fans of the repercursions of fan trouble.
This will be the right thing to be done in curbing this wild animal called hooliganism. FKL and KPL should be ruthless with both Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards in arresting the menace referred to as thuggery and hooliganism by deducting points and demoting any of these two teams found culpable in causing menace.
If any of these clubs will be unable to identify and handover trouble makers to both the police and kpl/fkl, more serious actions need to be taken.
We have to be radical in order to bring law and order in our stadiums. Kpl/fkl should be decisive in this matter and should borrow a leaf from UK where this menace used to be the order of the day in matches involving Liverpool, Manchester United, Nottingham, Sheffield, Arsenal, Spurs, Everton, QPR, etc.
However, my fear are fans in this site that have been posting comments that resonate with behaviour of hooliganism. Such postings will only encourage and accelerate the ugly face of menace. The administrator of this site should not allow any posting that may incite fans to violence. Block such postings and reprimand the bloggers or culprits.
Point of correction from the admin Tuzo did not withdraw the sponsorship,get ur facts right,i still believe tuzo had there reason why they did not want to renew the contract its not only because of hooliganism,i believe maybe they have gotten what they wanted thats the reason why they did not even congratulated the team even when we won the league live alone hosting the team for a dinner,so lets not associate everything with hooliganism me i still strongly believe the police must do there work,because these people are always shown on cameras,they should be arrested and charged but since we want to play politics with it and the media also want something to report they have to keep on talking about hooliganism n they do nothing.
Call it hooliganism or not but if gor Mahia does not wallop KCB comvincingly in their next match,things will not be the same!
@ Mwakio, I think U r a tusker fan/supporter & u think that if Gor or Afc is demoted u will get fans to cheer ua team. Be informed that even if Gor is demoted to NSL, we will be there to support our team & we shall not support that tusker of uas.we will suport Afc or City stars if they r in league & never Tusker. We know the way tusker had been winning the league in the past by bribing match officials to aword them penalties.u ‘ve started it to agitate Gor fans in our last game with tusker so that fans
@ Michael O. O, are you in your right senses? I guess not. We must all demonise hooliganism if we truely love gor
When Tuzo signed the 2 year deal there was no renewal clause. So the issue of cancellation does’nt arise. EC should ave started looking 4 sponsors in June last year instead none other than AR was waiting until 31/3/14 for communication that ooh we’ve decided 2 extend the deal.
4get catcphrases & hankechiefs, IF POLICE CAN ARREST,PROSECUTE & JAIL ONLY 10 CULPRITS INCLUDING THOSE BRIDING THIS VICE WILL B ELIMINATED PAP. NOT ARREST THEN RELEASE AFTER BEING BRIBED.
HEY THESE COULD B BW’S NEXT EXCUSES
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@ Michael O. Ogolo, I have been ardent Gor Mahia fan for many years since 1995 when I was in the University of Nairobi after being initiated by a comrade and my beautiful from Alego. I can’t support any other team apart from Kogalo.
We all have a duty to denounce hooliganism at all cost alternatively we should expect tough disciplinary actions from fkl/kpl/gok/police.
We should not live in self denial and please note that by denouncing thuggery or menace or hooliganism does not make me to be a sympathiser of tusker or any other team in kpl.
I am not a hooligan & I hate anybody pupporting to be a Gor fan & is a hooligan who force his way in any stadium and causing trouble. Having said that, I as a gor fan will not suggest that Gor be demoted to div 1 to curb hooliganism & assume that now we ‘ve cured kenyan soccer of hooliganism. Be warry of pple who blog in this site yet they ‘re not serving the interest of Gor.
@Michael O. O. between you and Mwakio we know who means good for gor and football in Kenya. While we are saying that we will support gor even if demoted a few years ago before Carol Radul, Jalang’o and C. Mutoko prpmoted local footbal gor and afc could not even field city stadium.
And I can bet you were not one of those fans. Let’s fight hooliganism with all the weapons we have. It’s true Tuzo did not withdraw their support but neither did they give reasons for not renewing it. It could be all to do with the company strategy so we can only thank them for the cooperation while it lasted.
Saying that we must won against KCB is wishful thinking. We have to accept that footy has three results but we would wish for a win otherwise we will end up creating tension with no real football being played. Am hoping for a win but God knows what’s in store for us
@Jakoyo I totally agree with you on Wed match. We will not accept laxity from players then we are given lame excuses . we need to see thirst for goals on Wed not sagging shorts n sideshows in the pitch.
@DAN ORIGINAL WHY AV NOT MENTIONED RAMOGI’S BEN OLUOCH OKELLO….HOW HE PROMOTED SIRKAL
jakoyo and omondaye what will you do if gor loses?,throw stones,beat players who didn’t play well or beat up the coach?Please you just two among thousands of peaceful gor mahia fans who would like to see gor win but will not result to hooliganism in case of a lose.So please when you post your comments “just say I WILL NOT” coz you don’t speak on behalf of me and am sure you are not speaking behalf of many others.#wacha hooliganism.
@ Jakoyo and Omondaye. You will be held responsible should there be damage to property and human being. Why don’t you just stay home and leave the few peace loving and ardent supporters of Gor Mahia watch the match on Wednesday. You reason like some people I saw in Kisumu in January 2008 holding petrol bombs saying “Give Raila the presidency otherwise I burn my house” At the end of the day, they burnt what they feed from, now they are jobless without a house!! Just stay home and don’t go to the stadium, you would have done Gor a big favour and you will be enrolled into hall of fame!! You are however invited when we start winning. I suspect you will even be trying to gain entry free of charge on Wednesday
Hooliganism is evil because it contains within itself, Destruction of Property, Injuries, Loss of Life,Character assassination,association with backwardness.Why would any loving Fan want the team to be associated with such. Recently I hard some people talking amongst themselves saying, “Some of these Luos still think that the team only has Luo fans, we are from a totally different region but for the Love of the game we support Gor”. I think this is a wake up call that this team can grow beyond bounds, but we must set a culture that is both sporty and competitive. This indeed will bring more people and more gate collections. Let us therefor resolve to stamp out Holliganism.
whether we are for against gor,we should all as sports fans and supporters,endevour to up root the act of hooliganism at all cost,we kill sports by hooliganism,we tend to scare away sponsors,who thro sports promote their bussiness emblem by expanding their market space,for this reason we we must shun hooligasm,lets embrace the spirit of sportsmanship,i love kogallo.