•Gor Mahia chairman Ambrose Rachier has vowed to deal with indisciplined players.
• Says they agreed to pay players allowances soon, but they opted to embarrassed team
Image: file
Gor Mahia chairman Ambrose Rachier has vowed to deal with indisciplined players within the squad days after the infamous Morocco trip, where they fell 5-1 to Moroccan RS Berkane to crash out of the 2018/2019 Caf Confederations Cup quarter-finals.
The city lawyer, who doubles up as the KPL chair, has maintained that the players' claim to bonuses not only lacked a legal basis but was uncalled for.
Rachier said this while briefing the media over the controversies surrounding the two-legged quarter-final match.
He revealed that his players refused to train for two days prior to the important match unless they were paid the accrued bonuses and training allowances. This was despite the fact that the club had already settled salaries.
The players also failed to attend the official Caf training and camp despite the club having paid for the venue, only to show up on match day.
"The club is bigger than all individuals. We had agreed to pay them their allowances soon, but they elected to embarrassed us in front of dignitaries including former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, who is also club patron and new Sports CS Amina Mohammed.
“This was the first time we lost at home this season and it was basically due to players’ negligence and greed amid three first-choice stars having been handed suspension," added fuming Rachier.
He explained that they did all they could to ensure the flight logistics to Berkane Morocco were successful, but due to unavoidable circumstances, he arrived a day to the match with the first batch of 8 players, while the rest arrived just hours to kickoff after over 20 hours flight.
“Flying to the Maghreb countries is not easy. You have to connect severally and remember the government who paid air tickets didn't offer direct fight options.
He blasted Kenyan internationals Francis Kahata and Philemon Otieno of trying to evoke sympathy from loyal fans and setting them against the management, by uploading malicious pictures at the Airport to depict suffering. Some players are also believed to have gone on a drinking spree on the eve of the match.
An insider of the club who didn’t want to be named intimated that rebel players whose contracts are almost done could be released while others will be fined their winning allowances and bonuses for their part in the saga.