Tuzo threaten to withdraw
Courtesy of Daily Nation
Brookside Diary Limited has threatened to withdraw its multi-million shilling sponsorship deal with Tusker Premier League side Gor Mahia.
The diary firm – which signed a Sh38 million deal with the 12-time champions through its Tuzo brand – said it was reviewing the contract following frequent acts of hooliganism by the club’s fans.
The company’s General Manager Sales and Marketing, Elias Ocholla, said in a statement on Monday that they have taken with great exception to widespread reports of hooliganism witnessed after the match between Gor Mahia and Thika United at the City Stadium on Saturday.
Thika shattered Gor’s dream of clinching their first Tusker Kenya Premier League title in 17 years when they forced a 1-1 draw. The results saw Tusker FC retain the title after they crushed City Stars 3-0 at Hope Centre, Kawangware.
Condemned hooliganism
Fans believed to be supporters of Gor Mahia went on the rampage after the match as they stoned motorists and passers-by while barricading Jogoo Road.
Ocholla condemned in the strongest terms possible these act of hooliganism, which he said resulted to both direct and collateral damage to property with one person reported to have lost life in the melee.
Ocholla said Brookside is appalled that as title sponsors, individuals alleged to be associated with Gor Mahia would occasion so much distress upon innocent Kenyans.
“In the said reports and incidents, individuals who are alleged to be associated with the club unleashed outright terror to innocent bystanders and motorists within proximity of Jogoo Road and other outlying areas.
Unfavourable results
“After a careful appraisal of the foregoing, and considering that Brookside Dairy Limited is a responsible corporate citizen, our continued association with association with Gor Mahia under Tuzo brand has clearly been pushed to near jeopardy,” said Ocholla.
He said if indeed the said individuals are isolated as their fans, Gor Mahia should not only issue a public apology to those wronged by the incident including Brookside Diary Limited but also offer a plausible commitment that such acts would not be repeated in the foreseeable future.
“Individuals implicated must face the full force of the law since the incident is against our original philosophy of sponsoring sports in the country where there must be a winner and a loser.”
Ocholla said such acts, even if resultant from dejection from unfavourable results, cannot be justifiable hence unacceptable considering the of sports is to encourage social integration.
Still I would ask, Is it the duty of Gor to police the roads? What if the goons were hired? As much as we abhor violence the situation should never be used for blackmail. I think it’s time we thought of other sources of supporting the club. TP Mazembe and the Zamaleks depend more on their fan bases than sponsors. As much as Tuzo has helped I think they have also gotten their fair share of publicity. If Tuzo are sincere abount sponsoring football and were to withdraw then let them sponsor City stars or Rangers if it’s all about football. It’s now on our EC and well-wishers to let the rest know that not all is lost. The slogan remain ONE GAME AT A TIME
Am beginning to get fed up with this Tuzo, always intimidating us… a sponsorship is a business contract so they should stop behaving as if they are ‘helping’ us… its not a favour coz we are advertising their brand… let them go to another club…Gor existed long before them.
We know who the owners are…funny how fast they rush to condemn our club even before proper investigations are done… Politics should be kept out of our legendary club… I personally will not sit back and watch and for the umpteenth time am floating the idea of an Anti-Hooliganism squad…jo nam do u second?
let the withdraw…..we shall still get someone else to bankroll the club
@1 Dan I echo your sentiments. No real GM fan supports any act of hooliganism.
Whatever happened (violence) took place at around 7 pm and the game ended at 5.00pm so you cant drag the EC into this and it happened outside City Stadium. Did this Ocholla guy want GM secretary general or chairman to go to Jogoo road and disperse the crowd? I tell these must have hired goons, believe it or not…
Tuzo should have done whatever they are saying yesterday further more they are gaining more than Gor Mahia why cant they leave kogallo to make money by selling there jerseys can we compare the number of jerseys sold in 2010 and for the last two years. Wakipenda watembe they can try other teams ama other sports
Guys, I think Tuzo are just disappointed that they didn’t manage to sell the number of shirts they anticipated when entering the contract.
If they really love football as they claim, then let us see them sponsor City stars, Mathare utd or Rangers once they drop Gor.
We appreciate their support but intimidations will never work. Let them effect their threats.
Gor as a club cannot and should not take liability of events which took place on the roads and especially if the events took place 2 hours after the match. EC please don’t offer any apology. Stand your ground and our next sponsor will always respect the club.
Match Ended at 5pm
Brookside, please note that we are peace loving fans abhor thuggery and hooliganisms. My question is why should Gor Mahia be blamed for thuggery events that took place at 7pm? I was in the stadium and left immediately after the game. There was no sign at all of hooliganism during the match and after the match.
The thuggery confirms that there are thugs (wearing Gor Mahia Jerseys) being sponsored politically to damage the reputation and the good name of the club.
Size of Sponsorship
We fans and bloggers are sincerely grateful for the Brookside Dairy sponsor through Tuzo brand that came in at the time of dire need for such gestures in taking the club to greater height.
Our Gate Collection
Our gate collections have continued to improve tremendously due increase of the number fans that have continued to troupe into the Stadium. The number is expected to improve and this is going to remain positive in revenue collection.
In the last match, a gross of Kshs.5.1 million was collected and this figure is expected to continue rising due to the brand of Gor Mahia and entry of new fans watching our matches. If we can aim to collect an average of Kshs.2.5 million per home game, then we would be able to raise an average of Kshs.35 million in all the 14 home matches that will be hosted by Gor Mahia.
In this regard, the size of their sponsorship of Kshs.18 million per year is not something to write home about.
Blackmail
The threats are tantamount to blackmailing the club to accept that our fans were involved. Please Elias Ocholla, you can as well keep this sponsorship to yourself. Kindly leave Gor Mahia alone. Tuzo has never come forward to motivate our players and this press statement leaves a lot to be desired. This is purely politics which we do not subscribe to as fans of Gor Mahia.
Fellow fans and bloggers, can you see politics in this matter?
Politics
I can smell politics in the whole saga. Regarding this Brookeside blackmail, why can’t Brookeside/Tuzo go and sponsor other clubs in the KPL?
Brookside’s behaviours have some hidden agenda or secret hand in the reported thuggery that happened at around 7pm after our match ended at 5pm. This time differences leaves a lot for digestion.
Last time it was reported that there were some hired thugs in Gor Mahia replica jerseys that were arrested along Jogoo road beating by-passers.
DSTV/Supersports
From Sam Nyamweya comments that DSTV/Super sports are also threatening……….let the go too. Supersports came back on their own and we never prevailed upon them to come back and if they too want to go and broadcast/air empty stadias, let them also go and do the monkey business.
Conclusion
We fans and bloggers are tired with brinkmanship and blackmail the club has continued to suffer. Enough is enough gentlemen. Our club can stand with or without the so called Brookside sponsorship.
Football is business and there are other worthy sponsors that can come on board.
..Sponsorship is business and about agreements.Gor Mahia is not a WITCH to know who are trouble makers, and it cannot move into the future and say that will not happen again. Not everyone who puts on KOGALO jersey is a fan, not everyone who wears I LOVE KENYA is a kenyan. Omera Ocholla! It’s not a favour you are doing GOR MAHIA..and i am convinced thst you have done your mathematics and know what you getting out of this marriage-unrivaled publicity, sales sky-rocketing,..etc.This arrogance of threatening a club is not called for…let everyone be responsible for their actions and isolate issues. dont condemn GOR blanketly, absolutely..this requires a relative approach. AS A matter of fact..HENCEFORTH I WILL NOT CONSUME TUZO i am changing my milk to ILARA. You must be DIPLOMATIC BWANA..this MIGUNA GIMMICKS HAS GOTTEN INTO YOU.
TUZO WAS TARGETING MONEY FROM GOR MAHIA T-SHIRTS THAT WAS THERE MAIN INTEREST THE SO CALLED OCHOLLA MISLEAD TUZO ABOUT MAKING PROFIT WITH GOR MAHIA WAJEPE SHUGULI THEY CAN ADD THIKA UNITED WHAT THEY GIVE TO GOR
It offers a very interesting reading that Brookdside Dairy through their Tuzo brand thinks that Gor Mahia, the legendary Club can be arm twisted and be hoodwinked into playing 2nd fiddle in this business arrangement . Never, we shall not be cowed, they should have taken a hike like yesterday! (If they have resorted to issuing threats to the club on issues beyond the club’s control i.e thugs roaming the streets and roads of Nairobi and causing chaos, then they have outlived their usefulness)
Post 8,David, ilara is also from the same company, difference is only in the brand names. Try KCC……
maziwa ni DAIMA HIZO ZINGINE NI MAJI
Can we continue with prayers this week:
• To thank God that He has overcome all evil and death.
• That God will help us be alert for attacks by the evil one.
• That God will give us courage to grasp God’s promise of His being with us – so we don’t have to fear
• To praise God for the miracles of Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection
• That we will live to glorify God
Personally i don’t support destruction of any property or any act of public harassement or vandalism but the police must do their work.
We may have such people inside our loyal fans but if they are criminals, it is not the work of the club to curb them.
If a foreigner comes to Kenya and he’s robbed, he will say Kenyans have done that to him but the residents are not responsible for robbery cases, we have people in charge. Therefore, if we have thugs in Gor mahia, what do we do? We don’t arrest people let the police do their job. Recently there were riots in kisumu and as always it is, some innocent people will be shot, let the police do what is best to thugs, stop dragging the club into security matters.
I bought DSTV simply to watch gor mahia matches ,since due logistical reason i can’t make it to stadium. If they black list matches then to hell with their decoder and monthly subscription.My booster always gives me clear signals on our local channels. Inform us quickly so that I can stop wasting money
I have sided with TUZO previously when they were being condemned by almost all bloggers here but today I totally disagree with them. They have introduced politics on this matter which is totally unacceptable. For that reason, I am burning my TUZO jersey, secondly I am also going to consume Yogho Yogho and NOT TUZO.
For God and my club Kogallo
Let us not rubbish what Brookside has done for our club.what they want is the club to reign in on hooligans who are tarnishing the image of both the club and the sponsor.How would your employer feel if he catches you rioting in the streets of Nairobi in your work uniform?you will be out of work the next day!!
Lets all be rational about this.For lack of a sponsor,where will we be going forward?as much as we have rubbished tuzo,we will surely need one to be able to meet our expenses for the coming season.Lets tread cautiously my fellow bloggers,this is a sensitive issue that requires urgent attention!!!
Big brother we all hate violence and like Iran,Sudan and Zimbambwe, we are better off poor but remain sovereign.
If you were in that match you would have noticed the gor scouts arresting a fan who jumped into the playing field after the end of the game. As they were doing this the policemen/women were just watching. What more evidence does Tuzo or whoever need to know that gor do not abhor violence. In Nakuru Gor scouts arrested a trouble maker and handed him over to police Ever heard if the fan was charged?. As much as supersport might gve us a wide berth, unfortunately genuine Gor fans go to the stadium and do not rely on TV for their matches.
Maybe we can ask DAIMA to come on board, For how long do we need to be blackmailed?
gor fans, keep thumping your chests how you do not need sponsors, but keep in mind that THE LEACH(hooligans) will suck gor dry. there is nowhere gor will compete effectively without money. EC i blame you, thse guys who coz these chaos are gor fans. it’s up to you to teach them what damage they are causing. give speeches during half-time to ram it home or better before the game. many gor fans are desciplined, this is true but the hooligans who come in gor’s name are there. so tuzo will go, but tell me, who will come.
1. EC every time there is an act of hooliganism play the nxt match in an empty stadium.
2. let the players tell the fans face to face what hooliganism is doing to their source of lively hood.
use cameras etc etc.
EC if you want to stop this thng it’s up to you. education can achieve alot. the hooligan has to know that he is worse than the opponent gor is facing on the field. why is this happening in gor matches? this is one simple hypothesis. the easiest way to steal is to wait for a gor match. wait till the match is over and simply coz chaos. that said and done, this way of stealing can much as well be carried out by gor fans in the name of celebration or mourning. my beef is that when the EC had the time to tame the baby monster they kept denying now it’s metamorphed into an ogre.
Gor fans at City Stadium
By Jared Otieno Nyhanjom
It is very unfortunate that two Media houses went wild to report that people died during the fracas along Njogoo road after the milk derby that was played at City Stadium on Saturday.
One TV station showed a video clip on their YouTube page of a matatu taut claiming death of two people including a young girl who died during the fracas only to remove the clip from their page few hours later.
And as if that was not enough, another radio station claimed three people were killed on that same day. But in a quick reaction the C.I.D confirmed that there was no death associated with that Saturday event.
To spice up the drama, the matatu touts went further to drive their vehicles to Prime Minister’s office demanding a compensation of 5.3 million from the damage they incur during the event.
This brings us to the question of credibility and objectiveness in our media houses. Do our media houses just go on air with rumors or has truth been sacrificed at the altar of sensationalism?
I am not of any support to hooliganism, I am not happy of what happened after the match and I will not tolerate such behavior even if it is my brother found in the act. But at the same time I will not tolerate the non objective reporting being propagated in some of our media houses.
Gor Mahia FC was formed before I was born and as I turn 37 I believe the club has grown to an age where maturity and decorum has prevailed. The media houses have to understand that they are the image of the country and what they report are facts, objective and reliable.
These media houses have not shown us what actually happened onehour after that match. They have not reported why police officers began to throw tear gas to few fans who remained in the stadium just to console and pick up the pieces after the much expected victory slipped away.
The media did not show how a young innocent lady crying for help in the stadium after being engulfed by the smoke of the tear gas. All they showed was a group of people along Njogoo road at 7pm, harassing the motorist as alleged knowing very well the game ended at 1730hrs.
Genuine Gor Mahia fans are not hooligans. They are passionate fans with passionate love for the club; doing everything they can to motivate their players at all time. We know this from the beginning.
But Media house are out to destroy this beautiful club. They never report any negative information about other clubs. All they do is to attack Gor Mahia in all angles they find best to portray the club as a den of hooligans.
The question we ask is who need to apologize? Reliable information shows that some goons were hired to cause chaos before and after the match.
Some were arrested distributing Gor Mahia replicas and as we are referred as “tribe”, they could not even speak that language. We would like to clarify that Gor Mahia being a community club has attracted fans from all corner of the world hence it is beyond tribal.
We all know what negative and poor media reporting can cause to our beloved country. We have been there. Lets be bold enough to investigate and report what is really factual and reliable. Otherwise we will still end up in the same problems we faced before.
Last modified on Tuesday, 13 November 2012 08:37
@dinga you are the stupidest most uneducated person i have ever seen… please book some refresher courses with me and i will be glad to ask my two yr old son to teach u some facts
Gor Mahia fans are learned and modest… ur are choosing not to ask yourself who these so call ‘fans’ causing chaos 2hrs after the match are… ur refusing to ask yourself why the ‘victims’ exaggerated what happened, they claimed that one driver and an infant were killed… ur are (deliberately) refusing to ask yourself why these same ‘victims’ rushed to the PM’s office asking him to pay for their damages…. how stupid can one get?
I never knew Gor had Police powers to arrest every anybody causing mayhem even after the match. At what point does one cease to be a football fan and becomes a criminal? Is Gor expected to Police everybody wearing a gor T-Shirt?
What i still insist to ask is one question this things always happen infront of cameras,we have the police and the inteligence service for GODS sake if we dont want to play ploitics with this thing why have we not seen anyone arrested and charged in a court of law?
I hope I read that wrong, but how can the PM be liable for riots by thugs wearing Gor uniform. If Mungiki butcher anybody do we go to the other office.
Anyway let’s proceed with the preparations for the next match as the EC handles the issues of TUZO and TPL/FKF/SS.
Brother Kibalka why dont you ask yourself one simple question,this so called huligans destroyed property,wakaumiza wati then atworst they killed poeple as alleged,why did they have to go to the PMs office? and yet this docket fall under the OP my brother add one plus two and get the correct answer
Tuzo, surely Tuzo! When we won Top 8, Tuzo never even gave packets of milk and the message was clear, stone some cars then you can hear from your sponsors. Win and you hear nothing. Get nothing.
How many times have Ingwe fans been involved in fracas this season? Has anyone ever heard of Mumias threatening or condemning their partners? It is the duty of the sponsor to partner with the club in order to root out hooliganism and other vices from soccer. What if they were protesting over the lie that for every ticket there was to be a packet of milk? Where did our milk go?
When any sponsor comes to Gor Mahia they must be ready to live with us through the good and bad times. These Tuzo guys have a ‘mpango wa kando’ and it surely is political. They could not even sort the league in their own boardroom. We faced a team sponsored by a sister company and they think it is rocket science on how to make sure a title comes home. They would rather Tusker won than Gor. Even Nyamweya knows how he got into office and now he is holier than thou. Our players can only do so much but the officials and the sponsor should have come in when it was most important and done more. We all know how African teams perform after the quarters in the World Cup and the power of UEFA when that happens. Is it any different here.
Let Tuzo wait and see what the next sponsor can do with this brand.
i wonder what gor is apologising for if what is happening on the ground is not affecting them! gor will only escape this buy educating it’s fans. it is a fact that gor fans have caused chaos several times. i have given a theory up there… so even if what is happening now is not a result of gor fans, the horse has already bolted. my problem is that when the EC earlier had a chance to educate the gor mass, they played the denial game. i repeat, if you want to steal then simply attend a gor match… unfortunately thats what it has come to. hooliganism in kenya soccer is associated with one club and that is gor. WHY? now they are even pushing it to the PM. propaganda works wonders. thats why hitler perfected it. so lets keep burying our heads in the sand as the damage turns into a cancer.
When efusi was playing in nakuru this season an OCS was betten and admitted in hospital after being beaten by efusi fans which media house aired this ugly incident? i geuse none,the other season in mumias a fan entered the pitch with nyaunyo caned the ref repetedly inside the pitch and infront of camera and the police what hapeded? am yet to see and even mumias sugar did not comment because that was the work of the police do do there work,why is TUZO coming so quickly in condemning the clus in what not even confirmed wether these so called GOR Fans were realy fans
@Dinga..relook and reread your comments. I hope u be objective
I fully echo the sentiments of fellow bloggers who have clearly pointed out the following:
1.All TV channels clearly show GMFC fans peacefully leaving the stadia in daylight between 5-6pm.
2.Who then are the fellows causing terror at about 7pm when darkness has fallen captured by the same TV stations.
3.The TV stations clearly shows the police lobbying teargas when the stands were virtually empty.This is evidence that most fans had peacefully dispersed. Why did the police not arrest the handful of fans who remained in they were breaking the law.Its highly doubtful that this handful of fans could have caused the level of damage witnessed later.
4.You only need to here police spokeman’s Eric Kirathie’s admission when being interviewed for the Inspector General’s position to know that criminals in the country are taking full advantage of the police’s incapacity whether the incapacity is true or deliberate/planned.
Surely in this case our beloved K’galo is being victimized unfairly.TUZO WAKE UP
understand what i am saying. it does not matter wether it is gor fans or not. the window for gor(read EC) to clean it’s act has been closing for a long time. if someone else is now out to vilify gor and it’s fans then he will have a field day coz the impression that gor fans are hooligans has been created for a long time. gor itself is not (and cannot prove) that the chaos were not caused by it’s fans.. hence my question why is gor apologizing. if an enemy of the gor fraternity is behind this then he has studied the situation well. but the victim has been caught asleep and can hardly defend itself. the avg mwananchi believes it’s gor fans, the sponsor believes it’s gor fans. the damage is being done so no matter how much gor fans say they are innocent . i will repeat what i beleive, had EC have acted on this matter much earlier it could have deflected the myth that gor fans are violent. so now even if you say the police threw tear gas to and empty stadium, and that the matatus were stoned after two hrs. the problem is that fans have over time generated so match hate that the police, the newspapers will not act in gor’s favour. a woman will say that in order to be recognized she has to work twice as hard as the man… gor now has to work twice as hard to prove these allegations wrong. propaganda cares less about ur innocence.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I have removed the TUZO logo from my K’Ogallo T-Shirt.
Blaming the EC will not get us far. Combating hooliganism starts with you and me stopping or discouraging your fellow fan from throwing stones, smoking bang or even abusing a player or fan. We need to start looking inside for solution. The EC has tried and managed to halt the security-nightmare of pitch invasion. I hope you saw how the fan who jumped into the field was ‘arrested’ by the scouts.
Just read that AFC are threatening to boycot the FKF semis if they are not assured of security yet I thought they are the home team and should assure all fans of security. For us we will be there to support our beloved club and i assure you that the hooligans will go missing on that day. Only the die-hard fans will be there for the team.
Has the TM been suspended? Or it’s romours? I hope all is well at the camp.
@Dan all is well, but there are rumors of radical changes.
I agree with Dinga that in as much as real Gor fans didnt cause mayhem, our name is getting tarnished while we watch… its time we stood up to these hired hooligans.. I believe this is the best solution bcoz i saw it work when we were beaten 2nil by Tusker at Nyayo.. two fans hurled stones at a vehicle parked at Kuche Kuche and other fans who were there descended on them with a proper beating… am sure the two lads have never thrown stones again… Why dont we start this sunday?? We see you trying to disturb peace and u face the music!
Dinga has very worthy points on the whole issue and that we have boxed ourselves into a ‘hooligan tag’ corner is not in doubt.We can perfectly guess what someone giving us a second look in the streets when we are dorning Gor jersey is saying in their mind even without uttering a word.How then is it possible in Gor Mahia’s name to be our brothers keeper 2hrs after a match is concluded?How come a TV station reported deaths then withdrew clips,never apologised and the office cannot capitalize on those obvious grounds for defamation and go public in other TV stations to redeem just a bit of our image?This office must be knowing something we don’t because we cannot be shouting ourselves hoarse yet they will never come out to defend the club or do anything to redeem our damaged image.AFC has done violent stuff but you will never see it given front line status the way Gor is handled.The truth is that we should not allow Citizen TV to air any of our clips in their sports news or features whatsoever.This has to be communicated by our lawyers to them.We know the fight they are igniting and it ain’t about football.
Fellow Kogalo fans, the only way to get rid of the few hooligans is to give a thorough beating (do not kill)any body who show signs of hooliganism in and outside the stadium. He will leave to testify and spread the news. KPL and police should also curb sale and use alcohol and bhang in stadiums.
Why is everyone here on the defensive? I am a Gor follower but I am now considering going to watch these matches. Can I go with my kidds, my wife, my friends? As of now, the answer is NOOO!! We need to sort this problem out. The root cause must be identified and dealt with. Earlier on, I spoke about the bhang smokers etc. I believe Tozo is right to try to protect their image and like I said earlier, every corporate organisation will do the same. Secondly, let us not forget that we would not be this far without Tuzo. We would not attract any serious player or coach without sound financial backing