The Standard Group Plc is a multi-media organization with investments in media
platforms spanning newspaper print
operations, television, radio broadcasting, digital and online services. The
Standard Group is recognized as a
leading multi-media house in Kenya with a key influence in matters of national and
international interest.
Coach Zradvko Logarusic is back - not with his former beloved Gor Mahia, but with K'Ogalo's eternal nemesis, Ingwe - and is not short of controversies on and off the pitch.
While most football disciples are used to his antics, his May 23 outburst after AFC lost to 2-0 to Western Stima has stirred up debate on use of African magic or juju in the game.
"We went to the stadium with the organising secretary Timothy Lilumbi to ask that we be allowed to train even for half an hour. We even offered to pay, but the manager and his assistant were adamant. They told us the stadium belongs to Gor Mahia and that they would not allow us to use it because we could 'plant juju on the pitch,'" Loga said after the match.
"I found it funny and outright ridiculous," he added. But the former Simba coach admits that he has come face-to-face with juju, particularly during his stint in Tanzania and Ghana.
"In Tanzania, it is big business. I saw some strange things while at Simba, but I was personally not involved. It is their traditional thing and did not involve me because I am a foreigner," said Loga.
Tanzania is not new to such accusations. In 2003, the BBC carried a story about how the then interim committee of the Football Association of Tanzania (Fat) reprimanded the country's top two teams, Simba and Yanga, for allegedly using witchcraft, stating that the arch rivals performed various juju rituals before and during a derby that ended in a 2-2 draw.
"These are our biggest clubs and their strong beliefs in witchcraft can set a bad example for upcoming teams," Mwina Kaduguda, the secretary-general of Fat's interim committee told BBC Sport at the time.
According to Fat, the rituals included two Yanga players urinating on the pitch to allegedly neutralise witchcraft placed on the field by Simba FC during half time.
In January last year, The Nairobian ran an exclusive story on how Kenyan footballers were finding it difficult to ply their trade in the Tanzanian league owing to alleged rampart use of juju.
In an interview with The Nairobian, the 2010 KPL Player of the Year, George Odhiambo 'Blackberry' who joined the Tanzanian premier league club Azam FC from Randers FC in Denmark, said: "I signed a one-year deal with Azam, but the blatant use of African magic was too much for me to handle.I would train well, but on the match day, at times I would experience strange physical complications like body pains and swollen feet... it was almost impossible to play in the league because I wasn't used to such things. To their players (Tanzanians), it is normal and no big deal. But I am Christian and couldn't stand the practice," he added.
Azam FC team manager Patrick Kahemele however wrote on the Gor Mahia website then, saying: "We terminated his contract after he demonstrated a great deal of unprofessionalism. He did not cooperate with the club."
Former Kenyan international Willis Ochieng' reportedly walked out of his three-year contract at Simba in what he says was unfavourable playing conditions.
"Blackberry didn't see anything. Yeye alikua team ndogo. Atuulize sisi tulikua Simba (What Blackberry experienced is nothing, since he was playing for a small club. He should ask some of us who were playing for big clubs like Simba, what we had to endure). Formerly of Finnish side IFK Mariehamn, Willis had told The Nairobian about an incident that shocked him during his time in Tanzanian in 2011.
"Tuliingia dressing room tukapata ni moshi kila pahali. Moshi ilipo pungua, kukatokea watu wawili wamekalia jezi za game. I was shocked! (When we got into the dressing room, it was filled with smoke. When eventually the smoke cleared, we came face-to-face with two people seated on our jerseys)," he had told The Nairobian.
"In fact, when I signed the contract, I was told that it was necessary that I go see Babu. So, during the season, whenever I got injured, my colleagues kept laughing at me," narrated the former Harambee Stars goalkeeper.
Yanga captain Paul John Masanja allegedly refused to shake hands with his Simba counterpart Seleman Matola claiming he was under instructions not to do so.
In 2004, when Kenya beat Tanzania 3-0 during the preliminary round of the 2006 World Cup qualifiers, Mwina Kaduguda, Tanzania's head of the delegation to Nairobi, claimed the federation had used players' money to seek services of a witch-doctor.
"Players were not paid their allowances before the game, which cost us the chance of reaching the group stage. I was in Kenya with the team. I ordered my colleagues to go back home and get money to pay the players. But instead of coming with the money, they came with a witch-doctor," Kaduguda told BBC Sport.
It is interesting to note how Loga's claims will pan out, given that Ingwe reportedly fired Belgian coach Luc Eymael two years ago for fighting the use of black magic by two key officials of the club.
"I was informed by a member of my technical staff that on the eve of our match against Chemelil in Mumias, the two officials visited the players at night, changed the security staff completely and gained access to some players, something that has never happened before," Enamel had told The Nairobian in an exclusive interview.
The Belgian claimed the two officials wanted him out for failing to follow the club 'traditions.' He further claimed that a stranger had taken photos of some players for unknown reasons the night before the match, and without his knowledge as coach.
