Gor Mahia will no longer play their home Kenyan Premier League (KPL) matches in Kisumu, club president Ambrose Rachier has said.
Rachier this morning told Royal Media’s Ramogi FM Gor has been incurring heavy losses whenever they host matches at the Moi Stadium Kisumu, citing low gate collection returns due to un-tamable farud.
According to the chairman, in their last match against Tusker in Kisumu on August 31, tickets worthy Sh. 511,000 were sold but the club ended up getting only Sh. 112,000. This was in contrast to the Ksh. 600,000 they spent in preparations and air travel to Kisumu, to honour the fixture.
“Our stewards are the cause of these problems. A better part of gate collections end up in individual pockets and we face this problem mostly in Kisumu. We cannot stand these losses hence the decision not to play in Kisumu unless we are convinced this vice is corrected,’’ told Rachier.
The chair said the stewards have been colluding with half loyal fans to access the stadium, taking bribes as little as Sh. 50 to advance the crime.
‘’The stadium was packed during the Tuker match, yet we ended up getting as little as Ksh. 112,000 as our share. We can’t continue making losses in the name of making our Kisumu fans happy ,’’ underscored Rachier.
Despite the setback, he confirmed Gor will continue with the e-ticketing system that was introduced this season. He explained those entrusted with assisting fans in the e-ticketing process have also been diverting monies into their own accounts.The service providers, he said, have now come up with an advanced system to curb the losses.
Meanwhile, Rachier has said lack of their own stadium has been the major hurdle to financial freedom, coupled with lack of sponsorship.
“If we had our own stadium, the borrowing culture would be a bygone issue but the stadium land allocated to Gor Mahia in Kasarani has complicated legal issues and nobody is willing to come clear about the title deed. Even the Moi International Sports Centre Kasarani itself has no title deed. I can’t therefore promise when exactly we can have our own stadium’’.
Former Gor Mahia Turkish coach Hasan Oktay has initiated plans to have Turkish Airline help Gor construct a stadium, but his departure marked the end of the deal.
During their last trip to Algiers for their Champions League match against USM Alger in which they were hammered 4-1, the government purchased 18 tickets for Gor with the former Prime Minister Raila Odinga taking care of their accommodation expenses.
