The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has declined to reschedule the Gor Mahia match against RS Berkane on Sunday night over quorum issues, sources say.
Reports indicate only eight players, who left Nairobi on Friday, have reached Berkane, Morocco ahead of tonight’s CAF Confederation Cup quarter-finals return match.
12 other players plus the head coach, Hasan Oktay, who travelled in a different flight from Nairobi on Saturday, arrived in Casablanca early morning on Sunday but are yet to reach Berkane, about 650KM away.
The match is scheduled to kick-off at 8.00pm local time, 10.00pm Kenyan time and the players could arrive after the kick-off.
Sources reveal the Gor Mahia officials had requested for the return match to be rescheduled but CAF would not take excuses.
Speaking to Kahawa Tungu from Berkane on Sunday morning, Gor Mahia chairman Ambrose Rachier said that since there are no flights from Casablanca to Berkane on Sundays, they were forced to hire a bus for the last batch of players, a 10 hour drive.
Earlier, photos of stranded players sleeping on the floor with some seeking comfort under airport lounge seats surfaced online eliciting an outcry from the public over football woes in the country.
Read:Why Gor Mahia Could Field Just 8 Players Against RS Berkane Tonight
Francis Kahata and Philemon Otieno – who have been crucial during Gor’s historic CAF Confederation Cup run – were some of the stars affected.
The pictures were taken at the Doha International Airport.
Recently in another embarrassing scenario, the players were forced to return for training on Thursday after Qatar Airlines denied they had travel bookings already reserved for them contrary to government communications to the team.
Officials have been blamed for mistreating the players.
However, the club has come out to deny the allegations of mistreatment and called the pictures ‘stage managed’.
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