It’s a shame how Gor and AFC Leopards are being run

Just over two weeks ago, our noisy neighbours who have now been officially relegated to number three in ranking of the most successful clubs in Kenya, AFC Leopards, signed a sponsorship deal with Sportika, a betting company just finding its roots in Kenya.

I can only say congratulations to Ingwe because they actually needed this sponsorship more so after the exit of Betsafe who sponsored them, and Gor Mahia.

The signing of the (AFC Leopards) sponsorship deal came just a few hours before the club members met to elect new officials and there has been a debate on social media that the outgoing office used the announcement as a campaign strategy.

But that notwithstanding, we need to ask ourselves as followers of Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards, the two most followed clubs in Kenya, are we going to continue surviving like this?

Over the last few years, these two clubs have been barely clinging on one sponsor to another, most of them betting companies.

Now, I do not want to berate the betting companies that have sponsored these two clubs (SportPesa and later Betsafe), but I have continuously maintained that we need to look beyond shirt sponsorship of we are to survive as clubs.

It is sad that 50 years after these two clubs were formed, we are still struggling to get our footing yet clubs that came decades after us are stable.

As Gor Mahia we can take pride in being the most successful club in Kenya with 19 league trophies and a continental title won in 1987, but we must ask ourselves, what does this count for when we cannot pay our players or even compete with the best in Africa?

And this is why I pose this question again to Gor Mahia chairman my friend Ambrose Rachier: What will be your take home pride after you exit from the leadership of Gor Mahia?

I presume Rachier will be proud to be the only Gor Mahia chairman who won the most league trophies during his tenure but then again, he is not the first Gor Mahia boss to be at the helm and win trophies.

In any case Gor Mahia and winning titles are like conjoined twins.

Today, I want to challenge Rachier and by extension the leadership of AFC Leopards to look beyond just sponsorship and come up with other football-associated projects that can bring income to the two clubs.

We have seen great clubs in the continent and even beyond go under because of financial problems.

Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards are lucky because they are considered the "Deep State" clubs in Kenya, but for how long?

We both have grounds that were donated to us by former president Daniel arap Moi, yet we still have to shuttle around to get training grounds.

We have massive following yet we do not have registered membership.

Long story cut short, it's a shame how Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards have been managed over the years and it's time the followers of these two clubs demanded for better.

We cannot continue surviving on handouts from politicians and droplets of shillings from betting companies in the name of sponsorship.

We must rise up and together work towards taking our clubs to the next level failure to which, we are doomed.

I come in peace.

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