Gor Mahia drive on violence wins SuperSport back

Kenyan Premier League broadcast rights holder SuperSport only agreed to resume its live televising of matches involving Gor Mahia after concerted lobbying and assurances from the club.

MultiChoice Kenya general manager Stephen Isaboke told a press conference on Wednesday that Gor Mahia had put in place a raft of measures to curb crowd violence that were satisfactory to SuperSport.

Sensitised their fans

“Gor initiated dialogue with us, KPL (Kenya Premier League Limited) and their fans,” Isaboke said while officially announcing the resumption of live coverage of Gor matches, starting with the much-anticipated clash with AFC Leopards on Sunday at Nyayo National Stadium.

“They (Gor) assured us that they had sensitised their fans on the negative effects of hooliganism.

“They have also introduced marshals to control the crowd. We are happy they have taken the initiative to deal with hooliganism. But the biggest test will be this Sunday.”

SuperSport, part of MultiChoice’s stable of pay satellite television stations, last month terminated live broadcast of matches involving Gor Mahia over safety concerns.

The club’s matches have twice this season been marred by acts of violence but Isaboke said the broadcaster was now happy with the security assurance given by Gor Mahia.

Security has been the buzz word in the lead-up to Sunday’s game, the biggest league match-up of the season. Importantly so.

The last tie between the two sides, at Nyayo on October 23, ended in one of Kenya’s worst football tragedies.

Five fans were trampled to death in a stampede as the venue and security facilities got overwhelmed by a near-capacity turnout.

“No fan should ever lose their life because of attending a football match and we don’t ever want to see that happening again,” KPL chief officer Jack Oguda said, adding that KPL was satisfied with the steps taken by Gor Mahia, AFC Leopards and Sports Stadia Management Board on security for the match and encouraged fans to turn up for the derby pitting the perennial archrivals.

At the press conference, Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards’ top leadership declared that security will be paramount ahead of the match.

“We have put in place adequate security and our fans have assured us they will not engage in any acts of violence and hooliganism,” Gor Mahia chairman Ambrose Rachier said.

AFC Leopards chairman Alex ole Magelo said: “We have an ongoing anti-hooliganism programme in place and are educating our fans on the repercussions of such acts. We expect a good match on Sunday.”

The fever of the impending clash was however too strong for the duo to resist commenting on the match.

“The Leopard is hungry and it will be feeding on Sunday,” ole Magelo warned. “It is a battle of the legs,” Rachier cautioned.