KIGALI, RWANDA: John Pesa, Gor Mahia’s head of delegation, is not giving up hope and believes his club will beat Rwanda’s APR and Telecom of Djibouti to sail through to the quarterfinals of the Cecafa Kagame Club Cup here in Kigali.
With their first two matches ending in defeats — against KCCA ( 1-0 Uganda) and Atletico (0-1 Burundi) — Gor face early elimination if they are beaten in their two final matches.
“This competition is like a marathon. It is never won in the first minutes, but until the final kilometre. Mathematically therefore, we still have a chance, I believe we will sail through.
“The team has been given all the support, they played well in their second game, but luck was not with us. Our best striker Dan Sserunkuma had a bad day at work and wasted three clear, one-on-one opportunities he had with the opponent’s goalkeeper.
“We also hit the side post and the cross bar. The one chance they had was a goal and that changed everything,” said Pesa, who is also Gor Mahia’s Vice Chairman.
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Pesa, however, said he has faith in coach Bob Williamson and he will grant him time to turn around the club’s fortunes. He also confirmed that Williamson had not asked to leave Gor Mahia and the club is not hunting for his replacement.
“We heard that Football Kenya Federation (FKF) is signing him up, but he has a contract with us. If he wants to move on, we will not stand in his path, but until then, we will not be looking for a new coach.
“We want to empower academy players and we need consistence in our management. Currently, only Timothy Otieno has come through our system, but we are limited financially to implement the programmes we have,” said Pesa.
He accused hungry and exploitative agents and middlemen, who are milking the club dry.
“People believe Gor Mahia has got money, but when you look at the gate collections, the club receives about half of what is received. Many come to the stadium with fake tickets, the security and our stewards are bribed and allow some in without paying.
“We have to hire stadium at Sh20,000 and still they claim 20 per cent of gate collection. What happens to clubs without fans? Do they still demand more money from them?” said Pesa.
Gor official now wants Stadia owners to be lenient on them and help grow the club. He also challenged those who have pledged through their Mpesa number 350100, of which, they are in partnership with Chase Bank to honour their promises.
“But the ultimate goal is to secure a sponsorship. We get about Sh2.5m, which goes to the players’ salaries and bonus. There is nothing left to develop the club. Pesa said, the club is not affiliated to any political party and people should stop linking it with the opposition.
“Our fans also need to be tolerant to other fans of different origin. Everyone comes to enjoy football at the club, fans should stop insulting each other and be welcoming.
Meanwhile, KMKM avoided early departure from the Cecafa Kagame Club Cup with last minute equalising goal to hold on to slim chance of reaching the quarterfinals.
Substitute Faki Mbwana Juma netted from a goal mouth melee deep into injury time to earn his Zanzibari team their first point of the tournament as they drew 1-1 with Adamma of Ethiopia at the Nyamirambo stadium.
Adamma’s Milkese Wonooson had opened the scoring for his side in the 60th minute after he dribbled through the KMKM defence and hit a low shot to the right corner of the goal to beat goalkeeper Mohamed Khamis Mudathir.
Adamma then held on tight, hoping to gain their first victory of the tournament, but failure to clear a ball in their danger zone cost them as KMKM scored to force a draw and get a lifeline in the tournament.
The match started slowly with the Ethiopians showing intend as they controlled the game. KMKM should have been ahead in the 40th minute but a shot by Salim Simba Haji came off the crossbar.
