Contrary to reports suggesting that Kenyan champions Gor Mahia failed to travel for the Coal City International Cup following a player strike, SportsBoom can exclusively reveal that the trip to Nigeria aborted due to failure by the organizers to avail visas and air tickets on time.
Gor Mahia were to travel to Enugu, Nigeria on Tuesday July 30 for the preseason tournament but were forced to cancel the plan thanks to a delay by the organizing committee in sending visas and airfare.
K’Ogalo were to grace the tournament as invited guests and had already been placed in group B alongside Brazilian giants Corinthians, Coton FC of Benin and Remo Stars of Nigeria.
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Gor Mahia official slams tournament organizer
Club vice chairman Francis Wasuna noted that the management shelved the plan to feature in the tournament after efforts to get the travel documents as agreed with the organizers fell through.
Wasuna disclosed that the organizers were to foot all bills but reportedly went mute after a reminder to avail air tickets and visas was made.
With time running out considering that Gor were to face Corinthians on August 2, Wasuna says withdrawing from the tournament was the best option.
“We are yet to get visas, let alone air tickets. The organizers of the tournament were to avail all these, but they haven’t met their end of the bargain. We had to withdraw from participating and concentrate on the remainder of pre-season activities,” Wasuna said.
Did Gor Mahia Get Down Payment?
Ordinarily, teams pocket a down payment or part of the appearance fees after confirming participation in such kinds of tournaments, with the funds aimed at boosting preparations and meeting other logistical needs that may arise in the pre-tournament training.
However, Wasuna denied that the club had been advanced millions or hundreds of thousands before agreeing to play in the tournament.
“We were not advanced any down payment at all,” confirmed Wasuna.
ALSO READ: Gor Mahia vow to withhold portion of salaries after players go on unjustified strike
Other Reasons for Gor Mahia’s Withdrawal
Besides the unavailability of visas and tickets, Wasuna confirmed that the move by players to down their tools partly compelled the office to call off the trip to Nigeria.
Gor players threw the travel plans further in disarray after failing to show up in training on Saturday last week and on Monday in protest.
The players opted to desert club duties after the management failed to give them a share of the league-winning bonus and millions the club was advanced by the league’s commercial partners.
Gor Mahia banked five million shillings for retaining the league crown and it is further reported that Azam and KBC, who are the league’s broadcast partners, gave the club upto ten million shillings.
“The players went on a strike, demanding part of the prize money. It caught us by surprise since such clauses don’t exist in their contracts. We had paid them all their dues, and it is unfortunate that they played part in sabotaging the trip to Nigeria,” said Wasuna.
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Departure from Tradition
Traditionally, Gor or any other Kenyan club has been handing the playing unit a share of the prize money, but Wasuna confirmed that the club had adopted a different approach.
While criticizing the players for attempting to hold the club at ransom, Wasuna said prize money, donations, finances from broadcast rights, or any other source belonged to the club, and players had no right to demand a share.
“We have been giving a token of appreciation to the players after winning a title. This was done most of the time considering that we used to have pending salary or allowance arrears.
This time around, we didn’t have arrears, and this means the club has all rights to use the finances gathered the way it deems it fit,” said Wasuna.
The striking players have since been subjected to disciplinary proceedings and are expected to explain why they absconded duty in writing.
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Gor Mahia to fine players
The move to down tools will attract a fine as the club will withhold a portion of their salaries.
This Wasuna says is captured in their contracts and will go a long way in eliminating cases of players deserting duty without notice.
“They will not earn for the days they did not work. It is clear in their contracts,” he claimed.
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Applicants are urged to submit their applications through www.tujiamini.co.ke