FKF cancels Gor’s Sudan trip
Gor Mahia’s friendly match versus Omudurman giants Al Hilal has been called off.
These two clubs were to face-off in Sudan’s capital Khartoum on December 15 in a warm-up tie in readiness for the 2020/2021 Caf Africa Champions League first-round matches later this month.
But Football Kenya Federation (FKF) on Wednesday refused to grant the Kenyan champions permission to travel citing a congested domestic schedule.
“As you are aware, we wish to inform you that the FKF Premier League is ongoing and your club has a match against Tusker scheduled for Wednesday. Consequently, we regret to inform you that it will not be possible for you to travel to Sudan from December 14-17,” said FKF’s general secretary Barry Otieno in correspondence addressed to Gor chairman Ambrose Rachier.
FKF’s refusal to give a thumbs up for this trip is also attributed by insiders to a feud between football boss Nick Mwendwa and Rachier primarily over an estimated Sh800 million broadcast rights deal involving the top-flight football league.
Gor defeated Rwanda’s Patriotic Army 4-3 on aggregate in the preliminaries of the Champions League and are now in line to face Algeria’s CR Belouizdad. Al Hilal meanwhile easily saw off Uganda’s Vipers, positing identical 1-0 wins in Kampala and Khartoum in the preliminaries and is now set to face Ghana’s Asante Kotoko.