•As things stand, K'Ogalo will not be hoisting the country's flag at the upcoming Caf Champions League tournament scheduled to kick off early next year.
•The 59th edition of the annual premier inter-club showpiece begins on February 10 with 48 teams competing for the continental title and a chance to play in the Fifa Club World Cup.
Image: FILE
Kenyan Premier League champions Gor Mahia are under a cloud of despair right now, a month after tucking away their landmark 20th topflight title.
As things stand, K'Ogalo will not be hoisting the country's flag at the upcoming Caf Champions League tournament scheduled to kick off early next year.
The 59th edition of the annual premier inter-club showpiece begins on February 10 with 48 teams competing for the continental title and a chance to play in the Fifa Club World Cup.
Gor secured a berth in the continental space after storming the Kenyan Premier League title on the final day of a fiercely contested campaign.
Caf introduced a raft of new rules on club licensing that took effect this season, including a clause requiring all top-flight clubs to own a women's side or enter into a written agreement with an entity operating a women’s team.
Participating clubs must also adhere to five-pillar criteria; sporting, infrastructure, personnel, administrative, legal, and financial.
It's the costly legal and financial administrative howler that has left the traditional Kenyan football giants with an egg on the face.
Football Kenya Federation (FKF) CEO Barry Otieno said Gor's certificate was withdrawn by the federation's First Instance Body (FIB) due to violations of Article 60 of the Confederation of African Football's men's club licensing rules.
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"According to the article, every club requesting a license must demonstrate there are no outstanding payables to current or former personnel as of March 31st of the year in which the Caf club competitions begin," Otieno said.
"If the license applicant has overdue payables as of March 31 of the year in which the Caf club competitions begin, it shall have a grace period of two months to prove that by the following May 31, such overdue payables have been fully settled or deferred by mutual agreement with the creditor.
"Otieno has placed the mishap squarely at the feet of Gor Mahia, claiming that upon consultation, the officials of the club claimed they had no overdue payables and even indicated the existence of two agreements with two of their former players, Sando Yangayay and Adama Keita.
"In its application to the First Instance Body, Gor declared that it had no overdue payables and indicated the existence of two agreements with two formers players – Sando Yangayay and Adama Keita," Otieno said.
"The agreements signed by both parties had specific payment timelines and penalties. It is on the basis of the agreement that the club was granted a license to participate in the Caf’s men’s inter-club competitions in the upcoming 2023-2024 season.
According to the FKF honcho, all the parties involved in the disputes reportedly agreed to specific payment terms and penalties, and as such, the club was given a license to grace the 2023-2024 Caf men's inter-club competitions.
Otieno said trouble began on July 18, 2023, when Caf notified Gor Mahia and FKF of a complaint about a case that had been determined by Fifa. "The complaint had been raised by one of the aforementioned players, Sando Yangayay, citing the club's failure to honour overdue payments as per the agreement.
Caf gave Gor 24 hours to settle all the outstanding amounts failure to which their licence would be invalidated. The FKF First Instance Body — an independent decision-making body set up by all Caf member associations to review clubs’ license applications — sought an extension of the deadline given by Caf.
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"The body gave Gor Mahia until July 20, 4 pm to settle the dues or enter into a new payment plan. It also instructed the club to clear all dues owed to Malian custodian Adama Keita and Burundian forward Jules Ulimwengu.
"Unfortunately, Gor Mahia were unable to honour the deadlines set by Caf and FKF had no option but to crack the whip. The local governing body revoked Gor Mahia’s license under Article 16 8(b) of the Caf club licensing regulations, which states licenses may be revoked for non-compliance with specified conditions.
"Regrettably, Gor Mahia were not able to honour the payments nor enter into new agreements with the aforementioned players within the set Caf timelines," Otieno said.
"The deadlines were set given the upcoming Caf Champions League draw process scheduled to commence on Friday, July 21, 2023, and the fact that the club was aware of the obligations ahead of the licensing process."
The record Kenyan champions have since written to FKF asking them to reconsider the decision.
In a letter written to Otieno and copied to the head of Caf Club Licensing Muhammad Sidat, K'Ogalo chairman Ambrose Rachier said they had fulfilled all the requirements.
The club promised to table evidence confirming that all the overdue payables to the said players had been duly remitted.
"We ask your able office to reconsider the earlier decision of revoking our certificate and reinstate our club on the Caf inter-club competition," Rachier's letter read in part.
"On the overdue payable to our former players, namely Sando Yangayay, Adama Keita, and Jules Ulimwengu, we confirm they have duly remitted and all the remittance slips shared herein," the letter read.
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The record Kenyan champions swung into action amid reports they risked being excluded from the Caf Champions League after they failed to beat the July 20th deadline set by Caf, instructing them to offset all dues owed to three of their former foreign players.
Interestingly, the development comes weeks after the FKF’s First Instance Board (FIB) granted Gor Mahia, Kakamega Homeboyz and Tusker FC licenses having met the basic requirements before the June 15 deadline.
The clubs moved to align with Caf rules that made it mandatory for all clubs taking part in the inter-club competitions to unveil women's teams.
Caf introduced new rules on club licensing that took effect this season, including a clause requiring all top-flight clubs to own a women's side or enter into a written agreement with an entity operating a women’s team.
"Specifically on the sporting criteria in the Caf men’s Club Licensing Regulations (edition 2022), Caf have now introduced a requirement for women’s football teams, which means that clubs intending to participate in the CAF Inter-clubs competitions must have at minimum one (01) women’s first team participating in a competition sanctioned by the member association.
To comply with this requirement, clubs may operate the women’s team(s) themselves or have a written agreement with another entity who operates the team(s)," Caf said.
Gor have reportedly entered into a partnership with Acakoro Ladies who are expected to change their name to Gor Mahia Queens. Several stakeholders on the local football terrain argue that Gor dug their grave.
Weighing in on the matter, former Gor assistant coach Frank Ouna now says the Kenyan champions are entirely responsible for the calamity that has befallen them.
"I have been away only to come back to Gor Mahia FC being kicked out of the Caf Champions League for failing to meet the Caf Club licensing rules. Now, where are the defenders of mediocrity? There have been a systematic running down of football in this country," Luna said.
"I will start with the log in my eyes: Gor and AFC Leopards. Calling them leaders is a mockery of that noun. Better must come. Visionary members must now stand up and present their visions and road maps. Take back your clubs."
Ouna sought to distance FKF from Gor's woes. "Gor's and AFC's problems predate Nick. If we focus on that, we solve them. The solution is visionary leadership. Current offices and preceding ones have failed them. Please, let's focus on Gor's problem," Ouna remarked.
"They have been there since 1968. Nick wasn't born then. The rot has taken decades, and it is internally sabotaged for selfish gain."
Former Harambee Stars head coach Francis Kimanzi called on Kenyan clubs to put their house in order. "The officials of the clubs must familiarise themselves with all the mandatory Caf guidelines. The body has always offered specific timelines for registration of players and fulfillment of all other mandatory requirements," Kimanzi said.
"That being the case, it would be unfair to blame Caf and the federation for their woes," he added. Kimanzi regretted that Kenya had lost a slot in the biggest inter-club showpiece.
"If they knew they were not in a position to honour the competition, they should have informed the federation early enough to pick their replacement," he said.
But even if Gor had fulfilled all the requirements set by Caf, they would have still had another jigsaw puzzle to fix. Caf had already stated clearly that the Kenyan representatives would have to play all their Champions League matches away from home due to a dearth of standard facilities in the country.
In an earlier interview, the club’s secretary general, Sam Ocholla revealed that they had contacted Tanzanian authorities to allow them to use their stadia.
This came after the continental football governing body, Caf, declined to include Kasarani and Nyayo Stadia on its list of approved venues, forcing the club to seek intervention from the neighbouring country.
According to the list released by the Cairo-based organisation last week, Tanzania is the only East African country with approved stadia.
Ocholla said they had already identified two cutting-edge facilities in Tanzania should circumstances force them to move their matches from Kenya.
“We intend to use the Azam Stadium for our preliminary matches and then proceed to Benjamin Mkapa Stadium if we happen to advance to the group stages,” Ocholla revealed.
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The K’Ogalo honcho confirmed that the club had already contacted the Football Kenya Federation, seeking urgent redress. He, however, cast aspersions in the local governing body’s capacity to provide a quick fix.
“It’s very true that Kenyan facilities are not up to scratch. We have already drafted a letter to FKF and we expect them to give us the way forward,” Ocholla stated.
Kenya suffered a major setback in 2021 when both the Moi Stadium, Kasarani, and Nyayo Stadium were barred from hosting international games.
The Caf Inspection Committee said the two Kenyan facilities did not meet the required standard to stage Fifa and Caf-related matches including the World Cup/Caf qualifiers and club competitions.
The appraisal of the two facilities was part of the assessment for the approval of the Fifa World Cup 2022 qualifiers. The latest development means that Kenya’s representatives in the Caf Confederations Cup, Kakamega Homeboyz, will also be forced to host their opponents in venues outside the country.
Homeboyz sealed a spot in the second most prestigious club competition after edging Tusker FC 1-0 in the fiercely-contested FKF Cup finals at Moi Stadium, Kasarani on July 1.
However, Sports Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba has expressed confidence that the country's stadiums will be ready in time for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations.
Namwamba said they were working around the clock to deliver cutting-edge facilities for the premier continental football showpiece. "We have very clear timelines.
Among the things that determine the success of a bid is the timelines. Everything has to be time-bound, everything has to have clear budgets, and we have figured out everything coherently and we believe that we are good to go," Namwamba said.
"You are aware that we have already advertised. The bids will open on August 17 and the work will start immediately thereafter. We believe that by 2025 we shall have met most of our targets," he added.
Namwamba made the remarks after conducting a delegation from the Caf on a tour of the Moi, Kasarani, and Nyayo stadiums on Wednesday. The delegation began an inspection of Kenya's preparedness to host the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) jointly with Uganda and Tanzania under the East Africa Pamoja Bid.