Gor Mahia chairman Ambrose Rachier says that the club is in danger of not attending the CECAFA cup because the FKF is not meeting its obligation of paying for air tickets.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe federation had agreed to pay air tickets for us to travel on Thursday but they have told us they don\u2019t have money. It\u2019s impossible for us to travel since had they told us earlier, we would have conducted a fundraising,\u201d Rachier told capital sport.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have already informed (Nicholas) Musonye that we might not honour the tournament. He told us in our meeting, Cecafa would pay for everything, including food and accommodation but the federations were to cater for the air tickets,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
CECAFA chair Nicholas Musonye is categorical that airline tickets are supposed to be paid for by member federations.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have already done our part. We are almost done. The federation should also do their part. Gor Mahia and FKF should agree to disagree to come to find a solution,\u201d Musonye stated.<\/p>\n
Sam Nyamweya has however denied that the federation is responsible for airline tickets.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the presidents met three months ago, they agreed each member country would take care of their own travel expenses to reduce the budget of organising the Cecafa Senior Challenge.<\/p>\n
\u201cAir tickets take a large part of that budget. It was not agreed the club championships were part of it,\u201d an official of the national federation offered promising a statement from president, Sam Nyamweya .<\/p>\n
\u201cLet Rachier produce any documents committing FKF to paying for tickets arising from the meeting. I can categorically state there was not such an agreement for clubs, only national team in the Senior Challenge Cup.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs far as we are concerned, it is the responsibility of clubs to make their own arrangements to play at their events, not the federation. They approached us and we told them we had no money for their tickets,\u201d Nyamweya declared.<\/p>\n
This could very well be a continuation of the antagonism that is pitting FKF and KPL. Last month, a huge contract that was signed between Nyamweya and British broadcasting giant MP Silva was declared null and void because Gor Mahia and other KPL teams declined to partticpate in the FKF league.<\/p>\n
Now the KPL is once again engaged in a battle of wills with Nyamweya because among other things, they cannot agree on who many teams will be relegated from the KPL this season. Nyamweya wants four teams to be relegated. This is the only way his Shabana FC will be promoted to the top tier league. KPL are insisiting on two.<\/p>\n
Nyamweya likely sees this as an opportunity for retaliation. Rachier must now scramble to find air tickets or risk not participating in the tournament that is scheduled to start July 18.<\/p>\n