Gor to hold fundraiser for Cecafa air tickets
Financially strapped Gor Mahia will on Tuesday evening hold a fundraiser at the Railway Club in Nairobi in a desperate bid to raise air ticket funds to fly the team to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, to participate in the Cecafa Club championship.
K’Ogalo are left with no option but to foot the entire travel cost of its 30-man delegation after Football Kenyan Federation failed to meet the costs as per the agreement during a series of Cecafa meetings held last year.
K’Ogalo had hoped that the Cecafa secretariat could chip in, but in an interview on Tuesday, Cecafa secretary general Nicholas Musonye ruled out this possibility.
SHOE STRING BUDGET
“We are overwhelmed. They (Cecafa secretariat) told me they don’t have money. I had talks with my chairman (Leonard Tanga) and it’s impossible. Again, when all the other federations are playing their part, why would Kenya be an exception? It’s very tight on our end because we are running on a shoe-string budget.”
“However, I must point out that I like the brand of football Gor is playing and we would want to have them in the tournament,” Musonye explained.
In a separate interview, Gor’s acting secretary general Ronald Ngala said that the club will hold a fundraiser in Nairobi Tuesday evening to raise some cash.
Nairobi businessman Sammy Wakiaga will be the chief guest at the event.
FEDERATION DECLINED
Gor had on Tuesday last week written to the federation requesting that it facilitates their travel, but the latter declined saying it is not in a position to.
“We acknowledge receiving your letter dated 6th July 2015 and took note of the contents therein. Football Kenya Federation is regrettably not in a position to grant your request for air tickets. We however wish your club well in the Cecafa Club Championship 2015 edition.”
Interestingly, as FKF turned its back on Gor, who will be representing the country in the competition, other federations including the football minnows Somalia have supported their respective teams by footing their travel expenses.
Gor is in group A, alongside Tanzanian powerhouse Yanga, Al- Khartoum (Sudan), Telecom (Somalia), and KMKM (Zanzibar).
K’Ogalo is scheduled to begin its quest for a fourth title on Saturday at the National Stadium in Dar against Yanga, in what is expected to be an explosive clash if the banter between the two sets on fans on social media is anything to go by.
Group A: Yanga (Tanzania), Gor Mahia (Kenya), Khartoum (Sudan), Telecom (Somalia), KMKM (Zanzibar)
Group B: APR (Rwanda), Al Shandy (Sudan), LLB (Burundi), Elman (Somalia)
Group C: Azam (Tanzania), Malakia (South Sudan), KCC (Uganda), Adama City (Ethiopia