Gor Mahia have denied the existence of an impasse between them and Dennis Oliech over unpaid sign on fee which has been attributed to the striker’s mysterious absence in their last Sunday’s Caf match.
Oliech reportedly deserted the club at the eleventh hour last week ahead of their continental tie against NA Hussein Dey following the failure by his employer to remit his sign-on fee on time but the club has refuted the existence of bad blood between them and the player.
The former Harambee Stars striker is alleged to have skipped training last week and vowed not to play their last Sunday match. However, according to the chief executive officer, Omondi Aduda, Oliech trained last week till Friday but the striker alongside players who were excluded from the continental game, gave the Saturday training program a wide berth. Coach Hasan Oktay named a 20-man squad for the Hussein Dey match last Friday and allowed the players, who missed out on his list to rest on Saturday and Oliech was among them.
However, reports emerged that he deliberately missed training and the match in protest for his unpaid sign-on fee but Aduda, who admitted not to have cleared the fee, said Oliech’s absence in training and last Sunday match was misinterpreted. “From the team manager’s report, Oliech trained as usual till Friday but the coach excused players who were not in his plans for the Sunday match to skip the match. Any reports, which suggest that Oliech will no longer feature for Gor until his dues are paid are untrue. I have read that he has vowed not to play for us yet we have a contract with him which binds us to pay him for his services. He hasn’t approached us with the aim of presenting his concerns over the delay neither has the media sought official information regarding the same.”
The official, however expressed optimism in wiring the money to the veteran forward in the near future in line with the agreement bored in the contract. Oliech penned a two-year long contract with Gor since returning to active play after two years but the club is yet to honour his signing fee rumoured to be Sh1.6 million.
He also accused the media of biased reporting and failing to highlight the Sh100, 000 send to each player after qualifying to the group stages of the Confederations Cup.
“Yes, we admit to have faced challenges in honouring the clause which demands us to pay his sign-on fee but we are working to have that sorted. If he has concerns, we ask him to come to the office and discuss rather than rushing to the aid of the media. I am wondering no one highlighted and appreciated when we gave our players bonuses for making it to the group stages.”