Opaque sale of replica jerseys and tickets bad for Gor Mahia
Gor Mahia’s Paul Otieno (right) vies for the ball with Cliff Nyakeya of AFC Leopards during their Football Kenya Federation Premier League match at Nyayo National Stadium on January 29, 2023.
What you need to know:
- A very simple one, look at the performance of the youth team immediately before the current Executive Committee took over and the performance of the youth team after they took over.
- The point you raised on your article concerning fake jerseys is very pertinent.
Last Sunday was the derby pairing us up against our perennial underperforming neighbours— AFC Leopards.
Alas! Ingwe was not going to be a walkover and the lads in blue striped jerseys gave a good account of themselves and at the end of the day a nil-nil draw reflected the equal strength of both teams.
Of course the pride of the place goes to the fans of the two clubs. It has been eons since I saw that kind of a crowd at a local stadium rooting for their teams.
It transported me back to the derbies of the 1980s when a match pitting the two top community clubs in Kenya was a do or die event.
A week or two before the kick off, the match would be the talk of town. Go to any eatery or a social place and all the fans would be bantering over is the pending duel.
Newspapers and radio stations were not left behind with pen portraits of the players dominated the pages and the airwaves.
Come match day and fans would come in droves coming from every corner of the country, buses packed to the rafters with fans proudly displaying their teams’ flags.
Who can forget the famous Apingo Nyawawa singing his heart out at the “Russia” terraces or the indefatigable Marola rolling his ample tummy on the ground whenever an AFC player scored.
Marola’s dire warning to anyone who cared to listen was: Ingwe huishi msituni na leo imekuja kurarua Gor Mahia (The Leopard lives in the forest and today it has come to tear apart Gor Mahia). Good old memories.
My congratulations to the AFC management as the home team for giving us a good show.
However, the skirmishes seen at the gates over ticket shortages should have been foreseen and forestalled.
The management also gave us the full account of the monies raised from gate collections.
I am sorry to say this but our own officials at Gor Mahia always fear or are allergic to giving out the correct figures from such encounters. Shame!
For two Mondays I have raised the issue of opaque running of the sale of replica jerseys at Gor Mahia and despite the outcry from fans, it is business as usual and the scammers are still in their illicit trade.
I felt like a lone prophet crying in the wilderness but from emails and what I read on social media, I am not the only one in Jerusalem perturbed by the sad events.
Here is a letter from a fan, Moses Libamba talking about the goings-on at K’Ogalo after reading my article:
“From this article you have touched on raw nerves of some people at the helm of the club.
The management has not done anything credible to bring fans close to the club.
Ingwe is performing because they have someone at the helm who totally understands football and has basic knowledge about Ingwe. At K'Ogalo we have busybodies masquerading as football managers.
A very simple one, look at the performance of the youth team immediately before the current Executive Committee took over and the performance of the youth team after they took over.
The point you raised on your article concerning fake jerseys is very pertinent.
There is need to see changes in the club especially on the management.
The fans can also not pass the blame. If they are not satisfied with the management of the club, they have a legal window to use to oversight the EC.”
