Gor Mahia's management ought to step up
Gor Mahia captain Philemon Otieno (centre) celebrates his goal against Mathare United with teammates Bonface Omondi (right) and Benson Omalla (left) during their Football Kenya Federation Premier League match on May 3, 2023 at Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani.
What you need to know:
- Many of Gor’s fans heaved a sigh of relief and thought it was the beginning of a resurgence of the club
- They are serial offenders and we are sure this isn’t the end of these debilitating bans by the world governing body
- From the time they signed an unfit Brazilian as a player, we always doubted their judgement
One month ago, Fifa lifted a ban on the transfer of players at Gor Mahia Football Club.
K’Ogalo had cleared the arrears owed to former players Ghanian midfielder Jackon Owusu and Malian goalkeeper Adama Keita among other players. The club had been banned from signing players for three transfer windows without an option of paying a fine.
Many of Gor’s fans heaved a sigh of relief and thought it was the beginning of a resurgence of the club. We doubted it in this same column and gave an example of how cartels work by bringing in, mostly foreign players, signing them for a hefty fee and when the said players leave the club, they part with some of the money they are paid as fees to the cartels!
The bad manners has not ended yet. Even as Gor were settling their pending bills, there was still Jules Ulimwengu who had not been paid his dues in full. Ulimwengu joined Gor Mahia from Rayon Sports of Rwanda in September 2020, and left in July last year after opting not to renew his contract. The club still owes him Sh950,000 to date. He wrote a letter to Fifa and a new ban is now in effect at Gor Mahia.
It is easy to imagine that the Fifa secretariat already has templates on Gor Mahia for a ban on failing to pay their players. It looked like they simply changed the name of the player in question and mailed the letter to K'Ogalo. They are serial offenders and we are sure this isn’t the end of these debilitating bans by the world governing body!
The Gor CEO was quoted blaming the victim: “We had agreed on a payment plan for Ulimwengu but he still went to Fifa…there are cartels using these foreign players to siphon money from clubs…we will not be coerced into giving in by going back on agreements we have had with them!”
This great man expected the unpaid player to trust the club when the same club has failed to answer the letters he sent! How else was he to get justice?
What about the local player who wanted the team bus to be auctioned so that he can be paid? Nobody has spoken about that issue and the status of the bus is still in question?
At the moment, the club has some foreign players who aren’t often fielded and mostly stick on the bench while receiving salaries the club can ill afford to pay. The later you will hear that they have sued the club after severing links. It is a trend that Gor officials know so well!
From the time they signed an unfit Brazilian as a player, we always doubted their judgement. We had first thought it was a joke until we saw the slob in training. It is time the management of Gor learns to change the way it operates.The club is too respected to be run such a manner. If you cannot pay players; give up and allow others to take over.
