K’ogalo caught between a rock and a hard place

Cecafa Clubs Cup
Cecafa Secretary General Nicholas Musonye, Chairman Leodepar Tenga and TFF Chairman Jamal Malinzi during the draw of this year's Cecafa Clubs Championship in Dar es Salaam.

On the local domestic scene, Gor Mahia have virtually been bullying the opposition but a stern test awaits them as they face the likes of Yanga, APR and KCCA in the forthcoming Cecafa Kagame Cup in Dar es Salaam...

In an unusual situation, Gor Mahia will be lining up at the offices of Football Kenya Federation (FKF) for their tickets to Dar es Salaam for this year’s Cecafa Kagame Cup club championship where the Kenya champions play on the opening day, July 18 against Tanzanian giants Young Africans.

Member nations of the Council of East and Central Africa Football Associations (Cecafa) decided in an assembly in Cairo early this year that respective football associations (FAs) will be buying travel tickets for their national representatives to all Cecafa tournaments.

Cecafa and hosting national FAs would, however, be taking care of all other team expenses, including full board accommodation, local transport and prize money, among others.

So, Gor Mahia will need flight tickets from FKF to be in time for their opening match against Yanga that is already driving up temperatures in anticipation by the passionate Yanga supporters in Tanzania.

In Nairobi on Wednesday, Gor Mahia coach Frank Nuttall was reported in the club’s official website saying Gor’s participation in the Kagame Cup this year would “gauge our development.”

Having won back-to-back Kenyan Premier League (KPL) titles in 2013 and 2015, one match after the start of the second half of this year’s league sees Gor Mahia top the table; unbeaten and 12 points ahead of second-placed Sofapaka.

But that must translate into a better Kagame Cup performance than last year when K’Ogalo bombed out of the championship in the preliminary stage in Rwanda.

“(Cecafa Kagame Cup in Dar) will be a useful gauge of our development as a team. (First) We aim to qualify from the group stages,” said Nuttall from Scotland.

Last year, under another Scot, Bobby Williamson (the current Kenya national coach) Gor Mahia’s Group ‘B’ performance when they finished last in Kigali was:
Gor Mahia 1-2 KCCA (Uganda); Gor Mahia 0-1 Atletico (Burundi); APR (Rwanda) 2-2 Gor Mahia
Telecom (Djibouti) 2-2 Gor Mahia.

Incidentally, Gor will be making another group encounter with the Djibouti Telecom. They are in five-team Pool ‘A’ with Young Africans, KMKM of Zanzibar and Khartoum Nation of Sudan where three will qualify to the quarter finals.

Many would agree that the quality of players in the current Gor Mahia squad has improved and should be expected to ably press for top honours in Dar es Salaam.

Their opening match against Yanga on July 18, the third match of the day, is bound to attract visiting fans from Kenya to the 60,000 seat National Stadium in Dar.

In Dar es Salaam on Wednesday, Cecafa and TFF officials launched the countdown to this year’s tournament whose $60,000 (approximately Sh6 million) prize money is again, as traditional, donated by Rwanda President Paul Kagame. The winners get $30,000 (approx Sh3m).

The tournament will be broadcast ‘live’ by Cecafa broadcast rights owners, SuperSport, who re-affirmed, the running of the partnership for another four years, said Cecafa Media Officer Rogers Mulindwa in a Press release.

“The launch was by Cecafa Chairman Leodegar Tenga, Secretary General Nicholas Musonye, Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) President Jamal Malinzi and TFF Secretary General Selestine Mwasigwa,” said Mulindwa.