Rachier: We could field eight players against Berkane

Gor Mahia chairman Ambrose Rachier has opened up to the possibility of his side lining up with only eight players in Sunday evening's continental assignment away to RS Berkane.

The Kenyan champions lost 2-0 at home against the Moroccan club last weekend, and now need to win this return leg clash by three clear goals to progress to the semi-finals of the Caf Confederation Cup.

But then K'Ogalo's trip to Berkane has been dogged by controversy and challenges including late air ticket bookings by the government, a mechanical problem to the Kenya Airways flight the side was initially supposed to travel in, and a section of players posting pictures of themselves sleeping on the floor at the airport.

The delayed bookings forced Rachier to transport players and officials to the North African country in four batches.

Two of those batches left via Doha in Qatar, while the other batches left through France and Dubai.

By midday (Kenyan time on Sunday which is the day of the match), only eight players, coach Hassan Oktay and his assistant Zedekiah Otieno had arrived in Berkane for the game.

The remaining group (consisting 11 players, technical bench members and administrators) were still finding their way to Berkane (from the capital Casablanca) by bus. That journey is 608km and takes an estimated seven hours by road.

"We expect the remaining lot here in Berkane at around 5pm Moroccan time (about 7pm Kenyan time). The match kicks off at 10pm," Rachier told Nation Sport.

"If they don't get here on time, we will use what we have, namely eight players including a goalkeeper. The laws allow us that."

Fifa rules allow a match to go ahead if a team has atleast seven players.

"A match shall not be considered valid and shall be abandoned by the referee if fewer than seven players remain on the pitch at any given time," Fifa's rules on the minimum number of players state.

"If the player who was not named in the starting line-up takes up the field of play, it shall be considered a substitution."

Rachier also suggested that his side was only looking to honour the fixture.

"I cannot assure you we will win or not. We are here to play the match and ensure we avoid the consequences of not honouring the fixture."

The match kicks off at 10pm.