There will be no Christmas holiday for Kenyan champions Gor Mahia as their much-awaited first round of the CAF Champions League clash against Algerian champions CR Belouizdad has been pushed forward to Boxing Day.
Gor were scheduled to fly to Algiers on Sunday night for the match initially planned for tomorrow but did not hit the runway following the closure of the Algerian airspace due to Covid-19.
The club, instead, turned to CAF requesting that the fixture be taken to a neutral ground but their pleas were quashed since the match officials are understood to have already arrived in Algiers.
However, Gor got a reprieve after CAF elected to postpone the fixture to Saturday to allow them to make their way to Algeria.
Gor Mahia chairman Ambrose Rachier said K'Ogalo will now jet out on Thursday for a match in which they will seek to break their winless jinx in North Africa as they chase for a slot in the group stages.
"The match will now be played on December 26 after CAF's intervention. We are thankful that they understood that we were genuinely unable to fly to Algeria and pushed the match forward. Algeria only allowed humanitarian flights but we intend to get a commercial flight and leave on December 24," said Rachier.
Meanwhile, experienced Bandari Technical Director Twahir Muhiddin believes it is just a matter of time before the country starts to export coaches born out of the CAF courses being conducted countrywide.
Muhiddin, who oversaw a Level 'D' coaching course held last week in Migori said the fruits of the classes offered were there to be seen and tipped the graduates to get offers abroad in the near future.
"If we continue to empower local coaches through the CAF courses, there will be no need to bring in foreign ones at both the club and national level. We have managed to train hundreds of coaches whom I believe, within a short time, will acquire the needed experience and start getting offers abroad," said the Harambee Stars second assistant coach.
At the same time, Muhiddin said lack of proper pre-season is to blame for Bandari's poor start to life in the Kenyan Premier League.
The dockers have gathered four points in as many matches and Muhiddin, who is likely to be reinstated as the head coach following the exit of Ken Odhiambo, reckons that their preparations were not adequate to guarantee them a strong start.
