How K’Ogalo was bullied by cops, fans in Tunisia

Esperance coach gets into the pitch to confront the referee [Photo: Courtesy]

Gor Mahia landed in Tunis, Tunisia last week on Thursday with high hopes of upsetting their hosts, Esperance of Tunisia. The match was billed as a crunch Caf Champions League tie. Little did they know they will practically have their necks wrung. The first clash in Nairobi ended in a barren draw.

Ominous clouds started circling when they touched down. They had to seek accommodation in a city away from Tunis because the hotel that what was recommended by the hosting team and their federation wasn’t up to standards. The team also feared that their food could be laced with ‘something’. 

Gor Mahia CEO Ludovick Aduda who had travelled a day before the team used his networks to source another hotel in the city of Hammamet — about 48 kilometres west of Tunis.

“We couldn’t take chances with our accommodation arrangements in Tunisia. What they offered was not up to standard and that’s why we had to seek an alternative far away from their environment,” said Aduda.

The second incident came the following day (on Saturday) when K’Ogalo was barred from training at the match venue as required by Caf. It took forceful protests by club CEO Aduda for the training to proceed as scheduled. 

But the worst was to come on match day, Sunday March 18. The moment the game kicked off, ‘ugly chants’ ensued, with the almost 20,000 Esperance fans directing their hostility towards Gor Mahia players and match officials.

Perhaps the fans expected an easy ride like in 2014 when Esperance hammered the Kenyan side 5-0 in a one-sided match. But this is 2018 and the Gor squad is totally different, with a new coach.

This time, it was no way. Twenty minutes into the match, there were no signs of Esperance getting the better side of a well-organized Gor Mahia who went on the attack from the first whistle. But the match referee was under the microscope with every call he made against Esperance, receiving loud jeers as fans tossed objects into the pitch.

Gor player harassed by the police in Tunisia [Photo: Courtesy]

Things were boiling fast and fans were getting frustrated because they knew a goal from Gor would mean their quest to qualify to the group stage would be in peril. The lone goal that separated the two sides came in the 22nd minute. But even with that, the pressure didn’t ease. Towards the end of the first half, Gor Mahia players on the bench were pelted with objects from the stands.  

The players had to run to the middle of the pitch for their safety as the match was temporarily stopped. Meanwhile, the Esperance technical bench was engaging their Gor counterparts in a shoving match on the sidelines despite repeated attempts by the fourth official to stop them.

When the match resumed, the chaos persisted with Gor Mahia players, their technical bench and match officials being targeted with projectiles and racial chants. The second half of the match was even worse as fights on the sidelines continued. The last 10 minutes became outright bizarre when the Esperance coach was sent off for getting onto the pitch to confront the referee. Instead, he refused to leave and stayed put by the touchline.

Ball boys routinely disappeared with balls leaving just one ball for the match. But when the ball went off pitch, security officers would hold on to it and threaten Gor players with guns. Even Gor’s coach Dylan Kerr was not spared the assault.

Gor Mahia chairman Ambrose Rachier says the club intends to file a formal protest to Caf.

“Our hosts showed us an ugly face of football that we have never seen. The hostility and violence we were subjected to didn’t provide the right environment for competition. It’s not acceptable and we will make a presentation to Caf so that action can be taken,” he said.

The sentiments were also echoed by the CEO Aduda. “The attitude shown by Esperance players, technical bench and fans was something we were not ready for. To them, it was a matter of life and death and they deployed dirty tactics which majorly constituted violence as a way to win a match. They won through orthodox means and we will for sure do a complaint letter to Caf and hope they will act.”