Gor Mahia success cards being sold
This story comes courtesy of the KPL website
Gor Mahia is arguable the most supported football club in the country and with their storming run in the league this season, everybody, it seems, wants to have a piece of them including the opportunistic merchants on River Road, Nairobi.
On this occasion, our imaginative brothers and sisters along River Road – a street within the Nairobi’s Central Business District that produces all and sundry for sale – have created and are selling examination success cards bearing images of Gor Mahia players.
kpl.co.ke has seen some of the cards, meant for Standard Eight and Form Four students who are about to write their national exams, which bear the images of Ugandan import Dani Sserunkuma, fellow strike partner Mungai Kiongera and custodian and captain Jeremy Onyango ‘Jagoal’. Others have team photos.
“We are happy that almost everyone wants to be associated with our brand, and am even urging our brothers and sisters from (rival club) AFC Leopards to buy some for their siblings and children. There is no better way to wish success to your loved ones than using the images of the most successful team in the country,” Gor Mahia secretary general George Bwana said with a straight face.
He however added: “I advise those who wish to use the team’s images for commercial purposes to seek clearances from the club, as the players should also benefit. We have received some proposals on that matter already.”
Gor Mahia are currently leading the league table with five rounds of matches remaining and are placed in an excellent position to win their first league title in 18 years.
Do you remember the case of Bill Gates versus IBM? And how the former became so rich? It is similar to what has happened now.
first is to congratulate the EC team for guiding gor to greater highs this season. for Bwana as much as i agree with ur sentiments on commercialising the gor brand i with the same breath ask that this should not be encouraged. if river rd industries decides to use the gor brand for it’s own purposes, first of all i ask the gor fraternity not to buy such products, u do not have to stone the traders selling these products but simply choose not to buy. but more so let the gor secretariat be ready to sue anyone misusing the gor brand illegally. and i wish this would start with the company involved in making the fake adidas shirt. but this as before will probably go into deaf ears coz the gor fan is very ready to wear the fake brand. alot of fans speak on how they are ready to help gor curb corruption but have gone ahead and embraced the same products these corrupt practices have produced. the technical bench and the officials themselves including Bwana parade themselves in this fake brands. so why be supprised if river rd industry comes up with this card. they already know that the gor fan and official are simply turning into typical kenyan MP.
Who is benefiting here? Are the players and club going to earn anything from this? Do these players have rights and are their rights protected?
These players work very hard to build a name. The club too spends alot to buy and maintain these players. The rights of the club and players must be protected and its really strange that an official of the club would be happy and even talk positively about such a scandal, unless he is part of it. People should know that GOR MAHIA is a brand and indeed a brand with lots of potential.
Bloggers plse deliberate on this with facts because i believe our territory has been invaded without our consent. You remember Oliech protesting about his image appearing on a billboard without his consent or the consent of his club. Lets protect our rights as a club.
I think that as it said “strike the iron while it is still hot” this is the right time to contribute to this. Gor Mahia being a brand, it is therefore selling itself. It would therefore only be practical that any proceeds generated be consolidated and accounted for to benefit the players and the club.For this to happen let there be specific centers, bookshops and other places licensed to sell the merchandise. Even those who sell such things should have budges that show they are authorized to do this and that they can be stopped and asked by anyone one to prove that. This for me who provide any easier way of even tracing points of origin. This would reduce the rippers.Otherwise It is the direction to go. You and I are aware that seasons change.we must make use of the rising tides and add in to the coffers. I think also that the card idea is excellent.
Too sad indeed unless the concerned are licensed to sell merchandise on behalf of the team. Kwani in K’Ogalo we are not innovative enough to allow a third party to make money at the expense of our hard working players and the TEAM. The people responsible should be compelled to declare how much they have made and share it with the team otherwise this is another ANGLO LEASING
Sometimes we like sulking too much. I have seen Man U, Arsenal, Chelsea etc success cards out there. Can someone tell us how these teams gain from these River road – printed cards. There are some things not worth pursuing. First, we do not even have the means to bring culprits to book. I would instead look at the whole thing positively, not necessarily for financial gains but as a perfect way to inspire the young boys and girls from school. Gor is not just for today. We need future Sserunkumas, K14’s etc. These type of players are the current recipients of Kogallo success cards. In my opinion its good for the image of a club like Gor Mahia. Jamaneni tuwache kulialia kila wakati.
For God and my beloved club – Kogallo
funny how one can excuse a crime just coz “we can do nothing about it”. @Albert K. why do u thnk gor can do nothing about it. it is these small corrupt practises that turn into orgres. recently a girl was raped and all the police did was to ask the culprits to cut grass. after all there so many rape cases so why bother with this one. i suppose the policemen were reasoning on the same parallels.
one thing gor fraternity shud do is not to buy thse cards from the river rd industry. secondly gor secretariat shud warn the companies behind these illegal activities of court action. the gor fan et official shud not entertain thuggery. nowonder migingo island a kenyan piece of land can be taken without kenyans doing anythng.(as per yesterday kenyans are now paying 300 to fish from migingo.) same warning shud go to the t-shirt manufacturers making millions yet the club is hardly making anything from the legal shirt brand. if the EC is doing nothing about it is simply coz they are lazy or have a hand in what is happening.
the technical bench, Bwana himself and gor fans have been captured wearing the fake adidas brand. how did they get thse items? it started small just like the cards. so the guy who is creating the card and the one printing the fake t-shirts and the one who will do the nxt ‘big one’. what’s the difference.. IT STARTS SMALL.
this is a wake up call for the club officials to start businesses for the club. supermarkets in8 major towns, a radio station. a tv station etc. i would abandon shops in my hood just to go and shop at gormahia supermarket. my radio would be tuned to kogalo fm 24-7. all these should be in the minds of gor officials.
@dinga, this is Kenya which has a very unique way of doing things. It is a country where illegality thrives unabated. That is why I am saying, it doesn’t harm to look at the little positives that you can achieve from a situation, than spend the rest of your life complaining and yet do nothing about it.
I am in no way supporting the printing of Kogallo success cards or illegal production of any of their merchandises by the river road crooks. I am only trying to be realistic. If police cannot contain the spiraling crime in the country, then what time will they have to follow the River road printers on behalf of Kogallo. Or does Gor have its own police who can crack down on this river road crooks.
For God and my beloved club – Kogallo
I believe that we need to let the River Road guys enjoy themselves with their creativity and opportunism and keep our eye on the bigger picture.
I recently watched a feature on Moïse Katumbi Chapwe, the President of TP Mazembe and was really impressed. The guy is visionary. Bwana Rachier, did u watch the same? Please spend some money and visit Lubumbashi when the season closes.
Fellow bloggers, TP Mazembe has a revenue of €14 million from an average attendance of 18,000 people per game. That is (14m x 115) in Kenyan money. An unbelievable 1.6 Billion. Lubumbashi is nothing compared to Nairobi and we can do as much if not better.
We need to vote in Oduor 12 and not the legends he is busy campaigning for. Oduor, please go for it. Your ideas are quite close to the vision that has built Mazembe.
forget about Gor players and teams rights. When the Gor fans stone, destroy and steal from the hawkers, does the team and fans care about the hawkers “rights?”……Some hawkers want to see cctv video to proof that they are selling cards with gor images…..over to you bwana
The problem with you my friend Ingo, is that you are resistant to change and impervious to reason. I have tried to single-handedly rehabilitate you to the class and calibre of Bill Wabz, Omusala and Vitoo, but you seem to be more comfortable reasoning like that well-known lunatic whose reasoning is so fossilized. Soon I will be giving up on you my brother Ingo.
Ingo aka Juju man aka English composition Teacher aka Civil engineer please rewrite your article with the following corrections, then resubmit.
1.team’s rights not teams rights
2. “rights”? not “rights?”
3.
to prove not to proof
4. Bwana not bwana i.e proper nouns start with capital letters.
STRICTLY FOR INGOLET ONLY.
BTW THAT FELLOW BILL WABZ IS POLISHED AS ARE VITOO & Omusala.
As much as we would like to deny it @Kosero is very right. As much as the process is illegal we don’t have the capacity to manage the situation. Moreover from a marketing point of view this is actually free marketing for Gor. When KBL sponsors TPF6 it’s not necessarily to increase their sales but to increase the visibility of the brand and company. How many of us when Gor is not playing will proudly wear their MaU, Arsenal, Chelsea, Barca, Real Madrid T-shirt? The Prezda of Real,Barca will be very proud to see their T-Shirt worn by a someone in Samburu than even in Spain.
While G. Bwana complains how many times have we mentioned in this blog about the commercial potential of Gor but the Kilos, Faiz et al are only concerned with how they will sell tickets answer Oguda etc. These people are basically exploiting a vacuum and let them do so until we fill that void. Can somebody even in river Road make us a good quality 2014 calendar!!
Vote for doctor Adede. The other Makamus, Lules, Siangas, etc have not come out to ask for votes. we have not seen their manifestos. the current EC has under-performed. Currently, we should be above TP Mazembe (all powerful Mazembe)
@BLOGGER, Why should we vote for him? Because he has asked for votes? Or because he has promised this and that if voted in?What has stopped him from doing that now? At least Kidero offered the coach a plush apatment without promising to do so.
GOR-SONY decision till next week. What’s happening here?
Bribery,kalekwa wamebribe oguda on this issue.
What worries me about our match against SoNy tomorrow is the history between the two coaches that stretches back to the battle of Nambole. It is high time that Bobby Williamson prevailed over Zico. Against SoNy we are going against an outfit that is inspired by Opium. If you watch the demeanor of the entire team and the antics of Kasaya then you realize what one is capable of doing after sniveling opium. Eyewitnesses have it the opium craze is officially sanctioned by the coach himself. SoNy chairman and Peter Bassanga should not let this great team go to the dogs. As one blogger aptly put it we will need teams like SoNy next season to donate points, however, discipline and professionalism should be emphasized at all times.
BURE KABISA
Ha ha ha bloggers you need to ask ourselves if we can win a case in court of law against these river road printers i will say no. GOR MAHIA brand has got no patent right protected under any law thus we should be advocating for registration of patent and copy right of the teams image, players and brand thats when we can force someone to pay the club and even the players. For now we have no legal standi even to negotiate any part of proceeds. @ oduor12 advice ur candidates to campaign on this platform
GM logo is patented, the process was started in Nov12 & completed in Apr13. See
http://www.futaa.com/football/article/gor-logo-to-be-a-trademark
I can bet my bottom dollar that this move like the Rama/Danny transfer saga has the blessing of part of the bloated EC if nt EC shld come out clearly so if its a scam &:
As suggested above EC should urge fans not 2 buy the cards & sue 4 infringement of trademark
@ Villager, thx 4 but let’s set our manifesto 4 the potential candidates. We know what we want.
I am going to differ with that blogger who says that Ambrose Rachier’s team have not performed.What performance r u talking about.First & foremost Rachier found k’ogalo strugling just like karuturi & mathare & brought it to its rightfull place in kenya.secondly Gor is now a serious contender for any silverware including CECAFA. Gor have increased revenue collection significantly under the leadership of Jakom Rachier. We can count many achievments of Jakom Rachier including hiring a top coach.So I realy
cont@23
not understand how that blogger wud have wanted Jakom Rachier to perform. I also wud like to comment on the friendly organized in dandora.I realy dont think that it will add any value to our players & also the timing is not appropriate.whoever organized this friendly did not thought of our mission of concentraring on winning a double this season. PAP MA DANDORA MOKWONGO EN GE ONGE LUM.
We should always ask ourselves where we were barely six years ago and where we are now. The chairman has delivered us from the doldrums. But, everything needs to be tweaked and developed to take it higher. What we need first are serious and commited members who can come up with real plans for the teams future. We need to form patnerships with well established teams both within and out of the continent. Because we need technical expertise to lift our club to greater heights. I would strongly suggest a team of the calibre of Bayern Munich or Barcelona since they are consistently churning out home grown talent and their revenues are mind boggling.
@ ODUORI # 22 Who compensates hawkers when their property is damaged by gor and its rowdy fans? now you are talking about patents and how the gor brand should be protected from the very same hawkers that gor has abused for years and years. Very interesting !. By the way, the hawkers are still waiting for the cctv video that shows them selling the cards you are talking about.
Albert K. I agree!! The cost of punishing these guys can outway the benefit. Unfortunately we are in Kenya. I am sure all if not most of us have pirated CDs/DVDs in our cars/houses/offices etc. And we are now shouting loudest!!
You cant fight this by vandalizing the sellers, which is what most goons would do. You have to start by asking the government to develop tight anti piracy laws. This works so well in neigbouring Tanzania where it is easier to pirate a foreign music or logo than a local one. YOU WILL NOT SEE DIAMOND OR RAY C’S PIRATED MUSIC ON THE TANZANIA STREET but u can easily see Jua Cali’s
UMORA JOTHURWA GINI UKAO KORO AYUEYO THO!! MITNA MITNA MITNA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA
Gor mahia forever and ever nyaka Ruoth duogi.