Gor Mahia hamstrung by lack of finances
Gor Mahia treasurer Kennedy Ouma has admitted that due to their tight financial situation they were finding it increasing difficult to retain their star players and also attract top talent.
“The truth is that we are struggling. We are really struggling. We have good players but we are losing them because they are receiving better deals that we just cannot match. Our accounts are totally dry and that is why we are yet to begin recruiting players,” he said to the Nation Sport.
The club was unable to meet the demands of Uganda Cranes midfield ace Geoffrey Kizito. Kizito’s demands were simply untenable because you cannot pay one player a salary which is three times that of his colleagues.” continued Ouma to the Nation.
Kizito has left as has Sserunkuma, while Owino Calabar appears set for a European destination. He also fears that the departure of the trio is not the end.
“Those are only three players,” Ouma said. “I fear that more will leave because how do you stand in the way of a player without money?
Gor Mahia are supposed to announce their 2015 CAF champions league squad by December 2014. They can extend it by a month if they pay a fee. However the club still has not been able to recruit players.
“The deadline is in mid-January, meaning that we have to have money before Christmas. We have identified the players that we want and we have spoken to about 10 players. We are however stuck on the financial part because our accounts are dry at the moment,” he said.
Kizito’s departure highlights financial woes
Gor Mahia were engaged in a last ditch effort to retain Ugandan ace Geoffrey Kizito. However the talks collapsed after the two sides failed to come to an agreement.
The club has been engaging the player over a new deal but we failed to agree on terms. As a club we are looking at affordability and sustainability aspects of a deal hence the collapse in talks with Kizito. He has since requested for a release letter which the club will grant him,” said Sec Gen Omondi to the clubs site.
With finances scarce, this has been one of the quietest transfer seasons at the club in recent years. The club has so far not finalized any major deal whether it is signing new players or renewing existing deals.
Preparation
That Gor Mahia would need finances in December is not a surprise and sound planning would have mitigated the current financial quagmire. They did indeed plan a fund raiser that was attended by among other governor Evans Kidero, Senator Mike Sonko and Raila Odinga. The initial target was to raise Ksh 60 million. This column predicted that the fund raiser would fall on its face due to poor planning. It came to pass as it raised a paltry Ksh 4 million.
Chairman Ambrose Rachier announced the formation of a SACCO to help shore the club’s finances but his plans have yet to come to fruition. The 350100 pay bill appears to have run out of steam at a time when the club should be promoting it. The membership drive also stalled because the club did not sustain it. At this rate even Ambrose Rachier’s idea for a SACCO may come a cropper if its is poorly executed.
The President promised a sponsor stating definitively “Leave it to me”. One hopes that the club officials are still busy looking for a sponsor and are not waiting for the president. Who knows if this was an empty promise on the presidents part.
Even with all bad press the club has received, there must be some interested parties out there. Perhaps they can structure a contract that is contingent on proper fan behaviour. And it does not have to be a mega contract like the Tuzo deal. At this point the club needs a sponsor even at a lower rate. Pride should not be a factor
Umaskini jamani tulizaliwa nayo…..tuwache upuzi kwamba pesa itapatikana …itapatikana wapi ?
mimi nina maswali mawilli ..
1. gor mahia ijionde kutoka CAF champions league ndio iliwe funzo kwa serikali na club yenyewe kwamba football is about business and if you dont know how to do business, you better keep off it.
2. pesa ya bloggers branch jamani nani alikula hiyo pesa ? hata tafadhali tutumie hiyo pesa kununulia treasuer wetu lunch ndio awache kuongea mingi sana kwa press !!! this talking too much will chase away more players…i know harun shakava is leaving, walusimbi is leaving, herbert kopany is leaving, timothy otieno is leaving, sserenkuma, baba kizito and oboya have left….
tafadhali tusaidieni hii club isifilisike ama ifungwe ?? tumechoka na harambee leo, harambee kesho !!!
So mr treasure did you not see this coming from 1976…….why are you telling us all this for, why are you washing kogallo’s dirty linen in public? You want another harambee or what ?
Bwana Kennedy Ouma tafadhali ongea na wale walichukua pesa ya bloggers branch wakakula…pengine wangekupatia pesa kidogo ununue lunch ndio uwache kuongea mengi…..
nyinyi watu wa EC tafadhali tupatie solutions sio kulalamika saa nzote !!!!
@2PASCAL Pls we shall appreciate if you represent us in the handover of the cash now that you have been too vocal about it
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Pascal kindly think of the consequences of your allegations. Looks like you are longing for some pie. Soon you will be served with a humble one. If I were you I would just put my eyes. How much more noise would you have made if you had also contributed to that kitty!
@Barefoot Bandit i like that question! LOL!!How much more noise would you have made if you had also contributed to that kitty!
SURELY EMPTY DEBE’S MAKE THE LOUDIEST NOISE..!!!
@Pascal is a typical Gor fan and must also be Kenyan. To him/her everybody is stealing and is corrupt even when there is nothing to be stolen.
At this time the most important thing is what we are doing for the team and not the other way round.
ilove calabar and his contribution in the game some to walu walu so even if there contracts are over but we must have to retain them please mr. Secretary you’re in that post please do your best ata kama utacall for harambe again plz do it
Time for reasoning and and not abusing each other . That will take us nowhere. We have just heard some players want kes 300, 000 a month and thats why they left.
Assume we paid 25 players each kes 150, 000. That would be kes 3, 750, 000 a month. Can we afford that.
Do we have even half that in collections.
Give us ideas and lets stop this bashing and abusing of EC. Lets come up with solutions. Noone knows it all
President mwenyewe atuezi mtegemea kwani nani anajua ata kama ilikua empty promise
Onyi so we as fans wat can we do bro bcz is sad