{"id":3230,"date":"2013-11-01T12:37:15","date_gmt":"2013-11-01T12:37:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gormahia.net\/latest\/?p=3230"},"modified":"2014-01-04T15:09:51","modified_gmt":"2014-01-04T15:09:51","slug":"rachier-gor-mahia-to-build-stadium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gormahia.net\/latest\/news\/rachier-gor-mahia-to-build-stadium\/","title":{"rendered":"Rachier : Gor Mahia to build stadium"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Picture of the Azam stadium in Dar es salaam<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Chairman Ambrose Rachier has\u00a0 re-iterated his campaign promise about building a stadium. Remember this idea was prevalent during the run-up to the last campaign. He has however said that the idea will come to fruition only if he funds are available. The stadium is to be built on land that was given to the club in Embakasai. “In this regard, we need partners and I would like to call upon the Member of Parliament for Embakasi John Ogutu to help us achieve this objective.” said Rachier according to a story posted on futaa.com<\/p>\n

Walk the Talk<\/strong><\/p>\n

The honorable Raila Odinga challenged Mr. Rachier to come through on his promise this time. \u201cWalk the talk and get the project underway, I trust you, we will come on board and see it through. It will be of the ultimate dreams being the first community club with its own stadium. We all want the best for the team.\u201d Said Raila to michezoafrika.com.<\/p>\n

\u201cSuch projects require enormous sums of funds, however with people of good will all over, the project will be completed in no time. Get is started. \u201dRaila continued<\/p>\n

Mr. Odinga presented the club with a reward of Ksh 1 million for winning the league.<\/p>\n

The Azam Stadium<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Azam stadium has a capacity of 7000 but is built in such a way that there is room to expand on its capacity when funds become available. It has an artifical turf surface.It was officially opened in 2013 but had been in use since 2010. Per the picture above, the terraces are built from inexpensive material (essentially benches) which is okay so long as they meet safety standards.<\/p>\n

Azam stadium is the best club owned stadium in East Africa.The club is now in a position to make money by renting the stadium for various events, selling naming rights and they keep most of the proceeds from the gate. And as can be seen in the picture above, companies like Coca Cola are paying to advertize at the stadium. With this kind of revenue generation, they should be able to increase the capacity the stadium in the near future.<\/p>\n

And note that a stadium capacity of 7000 will be sufficient for most of the home games of Gor Mahia because the total number of tickets sold rarely exceeds 7000<\/p>\n

Fans should should push Mr. Chairman
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In Kenya Nairobi City Stars are the only self supporting club that have their own ground which barely passes for a stadium. But at least they have their own ground so they do not have to pay to use stadia for training. In rugby Harlequins and Impala have their own stadia\u00a0 because as far back as the 1930s, the colonial government saw the importance of having sports clubs and of enabling clubs to sustain themselves.<\/p>\n

If building a stadium is unreachable at the moment then the minimum task that fans should hold Rachier accountable for is to get the club its own training ground as a starting point. As the years proceed, the club can start adding terraces and a perimeter fence. Now that Mr. Rachier has come through on his promise to win at least one league title during his tenure, we should thank him and now push him to put Gor Mahia on the path to having its own stadium. It will not happen overnight but a journey of 1000 miles must start with the first step. Lets also hold the relevant authorities from the local MP to the governor accountable for making it possible for the club to reclaim its land.<\/p>\n

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