Gor Mahia travel plans to Morocco in shambles
As of Friday evening, Gor Mahia had not left the country for their CAF Confederations cup return leg against RS Berkane which is slated for Sunday.
Additional reporting from the Standard
Gor Mahia failed to travel to Morocco on Thursday for their Confederations Cup quarter-final match against RSB Berkane.
The team was turned back from the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport as they did not have tickets to board a flight.
“We were told to go to the airport where we were supposed to get our tickets and board the plane. However, when we got there, we were informed the club had not made any reservations and so we had to go back home,” a player who did not want to be named said.
He said arrangements were now being made for the team to travel in batches from last night even though that was not assured.
“Some of us have been told to be at the airport by 6pm and others at 8pm. We are not sure whether travel arrangements have been made but we are going nonetheless,” the player said.
The club has few options to try and make it to Berkane in the North of Morocco. One option the club was pursuing yesterday was to travel through Paris and arrive in the North African country today at noon.
But this option is costly. The cheaper option would be to go through Cairo then connect from the Egyptian capital in the morning to arrive at their destination in the evening.
They can also travel by Emirates and hope to arrive in Berkane tomorrow evening. Gor Mahia will definitely miss out on having a feel of the pitch which is mandatory as they are likely to arrive very late.
A number of club officials we contacted did not answer their calls. However, we understand that the club was relying on the government to purchase tickets for them but this did not come through at the last minute.
A good reason for an anticipated thorough beating by Berkane. It makes no difference anyway, we camped in Egypt for a week and were still beaten by Zamalek.
Gor Mahia players, pls understand what it means to be marked as a sell-out. Goodwill flies out the window. Using CafCC to fight your battles was a gross mistake, especially that your salaries had been paid. You should have given more light into your disputes instead if sabotaging a crucial CafCC match.
So this journey to Morocco, is it about finishing the rest of the judas plan.
Who will care when you sleep at the airport corridors? …and now that you are on your way have your allowances been paid?
EC, the fruits of corruption are now bountiful.
Oktay, this so called sabotage gave you an excuse under which you could hide under. Gor was still going to be beaten anyway, they are playing the lousiest football of all the CafCc sides. How long?
So with this kind of thing, who’s to blame? Was there incitement? And some body dare say disband the playing unit, the core, the engine without which there is no team to talk about or to mismanage. Aaah
Travel arrangements are facilitated by the office.even if the government was coming in to support the team it’s the ECs ineptness that it’s all in shambles.let the blame here not shift to the players,they are merely pawns in a game that is being played in the background and that we all don’t understand!!
Some reality is finally sinking into the heads of the players whose acts of sabotage caused as a winnable game and also caused the players a chance to advance to the semis and get another huge bonus like they got when they qualified to the quarters .
We were told here yesterday that the bonus is yet to be paid yet the team is in “High Spirits’ , there is no high spirits here , what is there is High guilt occasioned by reality sinking in , and as the reality sinks in , the players are faced with a situation where they are now pambanaring na hali yao wenyewe while the cheering/inciting “fanbase” are snoring loudly in their houses and continuing with their lives as usual like they have always done.
Lets get a few things clear , Our EC is not Perfect but its not a disaster either , infact in their imperfections , they are amongst the best in East and Central Africa , I may even include west africa , our EC is bloated, carrying unnecessary extra baggage , our club’s source of revenue is through sponsors (Sport Pesa ) -just for local assignments and match attendance revenue (which is the forte of the fans) , but before we start jumping about other failed sources of revenue e.g Gor bread or water , its better to shake off the hypocrisy by the vuvuzelas that it is the ECs fault , the fact is that the so called fanbase running into millions that is enough to generate millions is a myth , all we have are non buying noise makers , but who will be the first to loudly accuse you of incapacity to raise revenue , they will come to another source of revenue I.e match day , find all means to underpay or force themselves in without pay , cause pandemonium in the stadium causing you millions in fines , then blame you for not having money to settle players allowances and bonuses in time , cheer the players to create unneceassary commotion before crucial games thereby killing the spirits of thousands who may have planned to attend the match to shy off , again causing massive lose in revenue .
A good example is how the so called millions of fans associate with the club’s initiatives is the number that has paid the club membership fee of ksh 1200 or ksh100p.m *12 , the number that has paid that 100bob per month from amongst the millions of fans is a “Massive 474 ” , the millions of fans you were misled to believe would buy the Gor bread /Gor Merchandise etc , a person who can spend 1000pm , 12000 a year on Simba waragi but will not pay the 100bob per month registration fee or will demand that the 200 per match be reduced .
Guys , we need to appreciate the fact that a lot of the things we demand of the management and the players can only be possible if we the fanbase put our money where our loud mouths are , lets do our part so that we can have the moral ground to criticise the EC and the players when they dont do theirs .
As a fan who is able to separate my feelings about the players sheninigans and the club , I pray and hope that even if by miracles , something positives happens in our match against Berkane , after what happened , all we can do is hope , We will deal firmly with other pending matters when we get back to Nairobi coz discipline is not negotiable .
And to the Ambrose Rachier , stand firm and ensure that the structural architecture of the club is changed to align it with modern management norms , that would be the greatest legacy you leave for all present and future generations , as currently constituted we can only stutter this far .
You’re mistaken. It’s not the players role to worry about the sources of revenue. They are paid to play, which they do but the party you defend is not keeping it’s end of the deal.
There will be no pity because Gor Mahia is not even able to acquire a second sponsor. If the administrators can’t achieve this they always have the option of leaving for superior minds. It’s not as if Kenya lacks businesses, or other types of organizations to partner with sporting entities. Rugby and Golf always get them.
Unfortunately Gor Mahia is run by old heads who can’t figure out more than surviving by hand to mouth. And apparently they shouldn’t be criticized because of how hard it’s been and the so called achievements they have brought about. On-field success is credited to coaches. The administration has bigger fish to fry. The club has no real assets to speak of and neither has it ever shared long term plans (3,4,5 year agenda) with the general public as a gesture of goodwill and to get real sympathy for trying. Not this Rachier took us from far nonsense.
The cry for membership is also pointless. What benefit will the public get from becoming Gor Mahia members? You have to understand that clubs like Yanga, Zamalek, Barcelona have members because they’ve kept with the roots that made them have members in the first place. Meanwhile, Gor Mahia and Kenyan football was practically dead after the 90s until Supersport came and saved us. So, young Kenyans don’t really have deep attachment to Gor Mahia beyond the matchday. Not to mention, the club’s preference for Nairobi over Kisumu is a strategic mistake. Anyway, membership is outdated as a tool to generate income. Clubs that have regenerated themselves in the 90s and 2000s don’t have membership models.
The reasonable thing is for fans to stop attending as they have. Sometimes you have to go through the pain to learn. But for Gor Mahia it seems we’re tethered to mediocrity.
I am a staunch reader here and I must say that this one of the most bare truth of affairs at our beloved club…
EC is to be blamed too for this transport fiasco. Gor Mahia players too must be blamed for having boycotted the trainings that led to stupid loss to RSB Berkane.
Both rotten EC office and ringleaders within the playing unit should be severly dealt with without any mercies.
@ admin, the team is enroute to Morocco as we speak, split into a batch of two on different flights – the spirits are high and should the Morocans underrate us by fielding an under strength or reserve side ,this is our chance to stage the greatest CAF comeback of all time – beat them 3-0 in their backyard. We have to believe, jodala style.
I don’t regret being a kogallo fan and a believer but truth be told,we don’t have responsible players at the green army,we can not have the players who keeps on holding the office at ransom, they did last season against Rayon sport and again this season to a very upcoming team Berkane,No! No!, . …if their salary was paid and they are contracted by the club and still we demonized the EC .The players should play for the badge and respect the binding contract, if one player is not comfortable then let him terminate his contract and look for a club that will pay the allowance and bonuses instantly. The EC is not 100% right but the truth be told they have tried, let’s look at the years when JERRY JAGoL was the captain and MUSA Mohammed was also the team captain, there was limited strikes, go slow or boycott we are hearing at the club so am much certain that SHAKAVA is a total failure and architect of these Perrin I go slow,they have given us a bad name in the continent. The team manager of the club Mr Jolawi is out of touch with the playing unit,he should resign immediately he is from Morocco.
@Nyakwar Ondenge , you are spot on about this Team Manager called Jolawi Obondo , Jolawi in my Opinion is so Last century and comes across more as an ancestor or village elder as opposed to somebody who is supposed to manage players whom he does not befriend nor understand , I say this becauase I find it difficult that a group of close to 30players can be planning a rebellion right under Jolawi’s nose without him getting a whiff of whats going on , if that be so , then what in heaven’s name is he managing .
Even as we call for disciplinary action against the players , in right thinking societies , fossils like Jolawi and failures like Shakava would be considered unfit to fit into the roles they occupy , the same goes to about 9people in the tower of babel that is the bloated EC .
Weeds must be uprooted in order for us to realise healthy yields .
I was reading an article about a son to a loving single mother .
The mother took the boy to all the elite primary and secondary schools that ended up seeing the bright boy go on to qualify to the university after which he got a very nice and well paying job .
Inspite of all this , this young man refused or feared to leave the warmth of his mother’s house , despite much prompting from his peers , girlfriends , workmates and signals from his mother , this young man refused to “stop breast feeding” , his peers got married , had children , his girlfriends left to be with adults and the loving single mum resigned to fate and left everything to God .
As I concluded reading this story , it downed on me that the person this author had in mind was ZEDEKIAH ZICO OTIENO .
Poor management is the genesis all the problems bedevilling the team at the moment.
From the the playing unit to the resources of the club, basically everything is suffering the consequences of poor management
Look at the travel arrangement,yet some people here still praise the management;saitan.Our team is all over social media with their photos sleeping on airport floors. This team can never lack investors contrary to what some think that without Rachier timu Keisha.
*timu kwisha
Traveling to Morocco is just a formality. The match is lost. Cha gweno cha ogwang. By the time the team is in the match city the effects of the journey would have Sapped all energy from the boys. Anyway let the boys enjoy a situation they very much assisted in creating. The officials are not spared the rod either. Jowetega that guy with billions of dollars. Ahhh tho. Ok ongiewnwa club yawa