Gor Mahia to part ways with Tuzo
courtesy of the Standard
Away from the pomp and colour that greeted Gor Mahia on their arrival at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, from Gabon, it has now emerged that the former African champions are cash strapped. Details of the club struggling with their finances after their current sponsors Brookside Dairies, through the Tuzo brand, went silent on their 2014 campaign, are no longer a secret with club officials running circles around town in search of a quick fix. “We have almost officially been informed that the current sponsors will not renew their sponsorship when it expires on March 31. For that reason, we are already looking for sponsors and are appealing to the corporate world or well-wishers who are willing to come to our aid,” Gor Chairman, Ambrose Rachier said. Rachier added the club is grappling to meet simple logistical challenges even before their first league match.
Huge budget
Away from the pomp and colour that greeted Gor Mahia on their arrival at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, from Gabon, it has now emerged that the former African champions are cash strapped. Details of the club struggling with their finances after their current sponsors Brookside Dairies, through the Tuzo brand, went silent on their 2014 campaign, are no longer a secret with club officials running circles around town in search of a quick fix. “We have almost officially been informed that the current sponsors will not renew their sponsorship when it expires on March 31. For that reason, we are already looking for sponsors and are appealing to the corporate world or well-wishers who are willing to come to our aid,” Gor Chairman, Ambrose Rachier said. Rachier added the club is grappling to meet simple logistical challenges even before their first league match. Huge budget “The 2014 season requires a huge budget not only for the payment of players’ salaries, but also for the Confederation of African Football’s (Caf) Champions League which is a very expensive campaign. “We urgently need a sponsor.
At the moment, we need Sh15 million to honour the forthcoming Caf fixtures. We are already running into huge amounts of debt incurred at the just-concluded preliminaries against US Bitam.” According Rachier, who also doubles up as the KPL chair, the club spent Sh2.3 million on air tickets to Libreville, hotel accommodation in Nairobi for the visiting West Africans cost Sh4million and then more money was spent on paying allowances for the five match officials, their air tickets and accommodation. “I find this fairly strange that we have to foot all the bills for the centre referee, two assistants, fourth official and the match commissioner to officiate here. I thought this should be the responsibility of another organization but here we are, we need Sh8 million to honour both matches against Tunisia’s Esperance.” The club’s kit sponsors have since January not been categorical on their contractual obligations and efforts to get a comment from Brookside Dairies bore no fruit as calls to the company’s Public Relations Officer went unanswered days after he had promised to call back to clarify the matter. FeverPitch has established that Gor presently spend at least Sh1million a week in running their day-to-day activities.
The cash crunch has seen the club receive support from Nairobi Senator, Hon Mike Mbuvi Sonko who gave the team Sh800 000 ‘to help offset’ urgent expenses. Sonko hosted the players to a dinner at a Nairobi hotel and said, “I thank Gor for representing Kenya on the continental stage and reward the players for their excellent work. I have talked to Sports Minister Wario and I am calling upon other leaders to come on board and help uplift our boys.” “We were almost robbed of our victory. The officiating was pathetic with dubious calls made by the referee. It was hell,” said team coach Bobby Williamson.
Do we always have to let things lapse? How about all the romours about Heineken, Keroche, Safcom, Daima milk etc?
From bad to worse!! To tell us that this contract will not be renewed at the eleventh hour shows how these guys (EC) don’t see beyond their noses. All they wanted is to win election. Its high time they got a CEO for the club and people like Faiz, Kilo etc should just not comment on club affairs. They just know nothing about football. Rachier, this is make or break for you. If you don’t get a good sponsor in 3 weeks you will begin to see the Walusimbis, Blackberies etc departing!! Act fast!!
Funny how they waited until the very last moment. Is the club returning to the period before 2008 when salaries were always late ?
#2 Mawego said what I was thinking. Its time to hire full time employees like a general manager to keep track of these issues.
First, am meeting the EC in the next few days hopefully we can thrush this idea of Gold sponsor, silver sponsor and Bronze sponsor, each sponsor with a clear role and responsibility. Hopefully this matter of sponsorship should be laid to rest in the interim.
Secondly, it has come to my attention that there are some bloggers who have managed to impersonate me and are going as jakoyo…..NOT Jakoyo. I urge that we desist from impersonating other people and portraying them as DIE HARD enemies of the club !!!!!!! Once again, desist from this habit !!!!!!!
Lastly, I believe we all blog for the good of the club. This site is there to come up with innovative ways of improving the performance of the club- both onfield and offfield.
Once again, please desist from impersonation. At Jakoyo NOT jakoyo, ni ‘Kusema na Kutenda’.
Who should employ the CEO? Anyway my outside contribution is for the EC to try engaging the likes of Dr. Adede and other contesters like Oriko in case they could help negotiating with some corporates, for i believe these guys have big love for K’ogalo just as much as all of us, furthermore elections and politics are over now and its time to work!
Looks like the hooligans are winning here! Not like we didn’t see it coming. Which corporate loves seeing their brands dragged along the streets in running battles with the police and the general public? Sad for Kogalo football. The EC never took these guys seriously. Should have priced them out of the stadium all along and let the police deal with the thugs outside. 2 or 3 games later they’d have given up. But allowing them in the stadium gave them legitimacy and they mingled with the true fans at will. The EC needed re-election but where is Kogalo without the sponsorship? Who will pay the salaries? Hooligans never pay at the gate so we can’t talk of raising enough from gate collections. Am anxiously waiting to see how we come out of this conundrum. I can’t bear seeing our viscous neighbours enjoying massive sponsorships while we languish.
tuzo, we can sponser our team ourselvs,,bat we can stil get a sponser from safaricom, olx uzauza,ata baba pia anaweza koso iparo nango,,
I don’t believe all is lost. I am a believer in the saying that ‘It’s always darkest just before daybreak.’
DTB has come on board to help us nip corruption in the bud on ticketing and we now need more positive energy in order to attract would be sponsors and not whine and cry so much.
Lastly, i would like to appeal to all proactive sponsors to join Kogalo and move forward and fight hooliganism together. Please don’t just put your money and nothing else in the team. Work with the team through good and bad times. When we are winners, your brand will enjoy coverage worth good money. When we face hiccups like hooliganism, your brand will suffer but this can be sorted. This will be sorted. With a proactive sponsor, we can get the hooligans something to do in the stadia and the community. When they get bored, they start their bad tendencies all over town.
All the best against City Stars who pride themselves in being our bogey tea.
Now I THINK THE SO CALLED HOOLIGANS WHO BOOST OF forcing their way to the stadium the so called die hard GOR FANS(HOOLIGANS) sponsor the team because they r the people always shouting louder how GOR can do without the sponsor n yet they dont even pay fore the gate charges,bure kabisa nyinyi
Jakom AR, ati the club is cash strapped?
Really & u approved 6 officials 2 go 2 Gabon.
Saying that Tuzo pulled the carpet from under GM’s feet is being insincere. Tuzo extended GM’s contract by ONLY 1 additional year 2 end on 31/3/14.
There was no renewal clause so AR why r u feigning confusion after all u said u’d act come end of March. Surely Tuzo r meeting their end of the bargain till March.
AR has never had a strategic plan 4 GM in all his long tenure, yet he’s began a 2 years mandate. LOL!
Ec,plz visit molomilk dairies on friday plz again dont broke they wl give u offer atleast 20m ayr 4r astart chair take this opportunity,incase of difficulty iwl help u go throu.
Whenever Hooligans hit and are attacked on this wall by @INGO,@Benson Disi & others, you start deleting their contributions. Who is the loser here now?? TUZO IS A BRAND THAT CANNOT AFFORD TO BE INVOLVED IN DAMAGING KENYANS PROPERTIES AND RUNNING BATTLES WITH POLICE AND STONES. NOW I CONSIDER THIS TO BE TUZO’S CONTRIBUTION TO FIGHTING GOR GOONS & THUGS IN FOOTBALL!!!
@Owino vincent we want such ideas nt blame games keep up
Guys ths is 1 way of shaming us we onli ramble wth othas cos 4 help n make noise
Let us hav a sacco 2 help the cmmnti n sponsa team as wl as employment plz
GUYS IT’S TIME WE EAT A HUMBLE PIE
Our title shir sponsor, Tuzo may be withdrawing their support for a simple reason-hooliganism. As a brand, it wants to continue to keep its corporate image intact. For many years this great club have been bogged down by acts of hooliganism. The stone wielding ‘fans’ protest violent at the slightest provocation.
Just take for instance an instance at the Nyayo national stadium during the kenya power charity cup tournament. A small group of ‘fans’ near the Russia side approached where their traditional nemesis, AFC Leopards were wildly cheering their team against Mathare United. It was also clearly visible where K’Ogalo’s heart was at the time. Frustrated by the loss to MU and hearing the usual teasing from their opponents, some fans could not hold their anger anymore. Immediately a stampede ensued after the police lobbed teargas canisters at the fans. And the madness continued for hours. It is a shame watching some fans donning Gor Mahia jersey carting away stolen plastic seats and a marabou stork bird to boot!
Now, the sponsors have closed the purse strings. Where are we going to get the money to enable us stage a serious champions league campaign ? These are hard questions that need serious but proactively solutions. I will never fail to say that this club is being followed by innocent blood every other season? Is it about time we seek divine intervention over this issue?
This is the time that one Mr. Okwiri should actualize the sponsorship worth KES 200 million that he threatened to bring on board from SA (does someone still remember the SGM last year in which Oduor12 was in attendance?). Over to you Mr. Okwiri.
Kogallo to expect more heat this time round! U saw KCB N INGWE drawing 1-1. More heat a head, its not a business as usual. Teams are really prepared!!
Mashemeji….Musikufe moyo! did Gor have a sponsor when they won Mandela Cup in 1987? Nope. This is what you need to do. Start an underground campaign to have Sony Sugar of Awendo abolish their team altogether next year and then have your baba (Raila) be your advocate in seeking sponsorship from them. Be sure to then take some of your games to the new Kisumu Stadium and success will follow
Is someone in the new EC listening?
I will humbly repeat myself 4 the umpteenth time!
1. implement the 5bob a day contribution membership/sacco. Maintain membership in a transparent electronic register. Membership should b payable 1/4 in advance. Start now & aim 4 20k members that will give GM a stable income of 36.5M.
2. Fix gate charges 2 maximum 150bob 4 terraces & target 15k paying fans. 4 the 20 or so home games/season that will raise 15,000x150x20= 45M.
** 36.5+45=Kshs. 81.5M.
2 achieve…..
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this EC & GM fraternity must put FOOTBALL FIRST & FOCUS ONLY ON FOOTBALL.
EC MUST ENSURE ENTERTAINING WINNING SOCCER WITH PLENTY GOALS, SECURITY AT STADIA, BE OPENLY TRANSPARENT,ACCOUNTABLE IN ITS FINANCES & OPERATIONS.
20k members means only 425person/county but remember Nbi/Msa/Ksm can provide half easily.
Other important sources of income e.g sponsorship, merchandizing, player transfer fees should also not b ignored.
I ASK AR HOW MUCH DID GM LOSE IN THE SITUMBEKO/PINCHEZ SAGA $6K-$50K isn’t….
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$50K more than half of the kshs. 8M GM now needs.
How much did previous EC cum hooligans cost GM in fines & gate collections last year. Collections in 2012 were in excess of 30M( last match vs Thika raised 5.5M alone) in 2013 you claimed that GM’s collections were a measely 9.1M an amazing drop of 21M yet now u r complaining that u can’t raise only 8million.
Its painful 2 see GM sidetracked by lack of foresight only bcoz a few individuals want 2 pretend that they fund the club yet steal from it!
I think we are missing the point. Tuzo only sponsored Gor for political reasons and now that that has been achieved they have no business with us.
Of course we must also deal firmly with hooliganism but that is a mere excuse.
We shall survive with or without so long as we have transparency and the EC mobilizes fans to attend and pay for the matches.
parayio, what do you expect when you have the likes of This Isaack och @ 7? this are among the bunch of hooligans tainting the good name of Kogalo.
Gor mahia seized being a luo outfit, Its now a kenyan outlook.
I suggest that we walk our talk by trumpetting the ‘ Enough for Holliganism!!!! slogan. by so doing, lets condemn to the highest degree any slight retro idea on the vise.
we used to take trouble makers off the field, what happened? or they multiplied?
We need the zeal of our patron here more than ever, he has been busy raising funds for a rival AFC Leopards. He can use his clout to mobilize his friends here and abroad and get a reliable sponsor
hooliganism aiyawaa the club is now broke because of some individual pamoja tupigane na huuni ama itupige
“Unlike many other football clubs, the supporters own and operate Barcelona….” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FC_Barcelona