Gor Mahia decry 'harsh treatment' in Tunis

Fans of Galatasaray, the most successful Turkish football club, normally use torches, smoke, drums, flags and giant posters to create visual grandeur and apply psychological pressure on visiting teams in what they call ‘welcoming them to hell.’

But at the 60,000-seater Stade Olympique Rades in Tunisia last Sunday, Esperance may have unleashed the demons in full force against Gor Mahia during the return match of the first round of Caf Champions League qualifiers, if the claims by an official of the club is anything to go by.

The hosts won 1-0 to progress to the group stage.

In the ill-tempered match, Gor Mahia players and members of the team’s technical bench were mistreated in Tunisia as the partisan home crowd chanted chauvinistic slogans.

Gor coach Dylan Kerr, his assistant Zedekiah ‘Zico’ Otieno, team manager Jolawi Abondo and goalkeeper trainer Willis Ochieng were all assaulted in the 90-minute melee.

After the match, Kerr called it “the worst football game I have ever had to be part of.”

“It was very scary. At one point we had to go into the pitch for our own security. We were all attacked. Willis was roughed up and thrown to the ground by the stewards and when Zico went to help, he was also assaulted. From the touchline, I ducked and missed at least three objects made of hard plastic that had been aimed at us while the game was going on. The worst thing is that when I turned to look, I saw that it was a uniformed police officer aiming the missiles,” Abondo told Nation Sport on Monday from Tunis.

The stakes were indeed high for both teams, as the first leg clash had ended 0-0. This gave both teams equal chances of making it o the prestigious group stage where clubs are rewarded with a Sh54 million bounty.

It was a highly emotional and ill-tempered match, with a three-minute stoppage just before half time when K’Ogalo technical bench ventured onto the pitch to escape missiles from the stands.

The Esperance fans were protesting against what they thought was bias by match referee from Botswana Joshua Bondo.

During the match, that was beamed live online, Esperance coach Khaled Yahia was seen entering the pitch twice in protest at the referee’s decision but escaped with a verbal caution, although Fifa rules are clear that such an offence warrants tougher punishment.

Gor however survived the intense hostility, and lost 1-0 courtesy of Anice Badri’s goal in the 21st minute after poor clearance from Wesley Onguso.

Gor now await their fate in Caf Confederation Cup play-offs round, where Caf Champions League losers will be pooled against Caf Confederation Cup first round winners.

The draw will be done on Wednesday at Caf headquarters in Egypt, and Gor’s possible opponents include Algeria’s CR Belouizdad (Algeria), Al Masry of Egypt, Nigeria’s Enyimba, CS La Mancha of Congo and SuperSport United of South Africa.