Gor, Leopards smell the cash

Desperate times call for desperate measures, they say. And so, two of the country’s most popular football clubs have demanded a change of rules to save themselves from financial woes.

Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards, who lack sponsors, have called for a revision of the Kenyan Premier League rulebook regarding gate collections in a desperate move to bolster their accounts.

Currently, the home team has solitary control over match day proceedings. Gor and Leopards now want this changed; they have also called for the abolishment of double headers. Gor Mahia organising secretary, David Kiilo, said that he had noted with great concern the manner in which clubs hike ticket prices when they face the two teams.

 “We are struggling to meet our financial obligations, but these clubs are taking advantage of us and I think it is time somebody did something about it. 

Most of these clubs are supported by corporate companies and ordinarily don’t charge entry fee, but drive the ticket prices to as high as Sh1,000 whenever they are hosting us or Ingwe,” Kiilo said.

AFC Leopards organising secretary, Timothy Lilumbi, accused the Kenyan Premier League Limited of conspiring with certain clubs “to force unnecessary double headers” for fixtures involving the two. “Surely it is not fair that other clubs take advantage of our huge following to make extra cash from us through gate ollections,” Lilumbi said.

Contacted, KPL boss Jack Oguda denied any conspiracy with a section of the clubs and said they will be discussing the matter in their mid-year review meeting.

“It’s (the double-headers) in the agenda during our mid-year review. You should however understand that at times the two feature as away teams in some of these double-headers meaning they have no claim on gate collections,” Oguda said.

“We slot double-headers because we have broadcast sponsors who have to fulfill their obligations, and this is by bringing the matches together. Being live on TV makes us have a good review of our referees performances and marketability of our players,” he added.

Kiilo and Lilumbi were speaking ahead of their upcoming fixtures against Muhoroni Youth and Western Stima respectively away.

Yesterday, Muhoroni Youth chairman Moses Adagala announced that tickets for the match will retail at Sh1, 000 for the VIP section and Sh200 for terraces, which is a 110 per cent increase from their normal Sh100 ticket prices.