Visa hitch forces Gor Mahia to postpone South Africa flight
What you need to know:
- Speaking to Nation Sport via phone, club chairman Ambrose Rachier confirmed that the team had faced sever challenges in getting the travel documents, and that they were yet to book flights for the trip.
- “First of all, we don’t have flight tickets. We had asked for assistance from government but we haven’t received them until now. The visa issues involve our foreigners, because they have six months work permits, but the South African embassy only recognizes year-long work permits. These are the issues we are working on at the moment,” he said on Monday.
Gor Mahia were Monday forced to postpone their trip to South Africa due to severe challenges in acquiring documentation for their travelling contingent.
Gor, who are Kenya’s representatives in the Caf Confederation Cup playoffs, were expected to jet out on Monday for Wednesday’s return match against SuperSport United, but had to cancel this plan owing to hitch in securing the crucial travelling documents that include visas and work permits.
Gor officials pitched camp at the South African visa centre in Westlands pleading the case of several key players including striker Jacques Tuyisenge, winger Francis Kahata, and Ivorian Ephrem Guikan who were yet to get entry permits to South Africa.
Speaking to Nation Sport via phone, club chairman Ambrose Rachier confirmed that the team had faced sever challenges in getting the travel documents, and that they were yet to book flights for the trip.
“First of all, we don’t have flight tickets. We had asked for assistance from government but we haven’t received them until now. The visa issues involve our foreigners, because they have six months work permits, but the South African embassy only recognizes year-long work permits. These are the issues we are working on at the moment,” he said on Monday.
The Gor team was scheduled to touch down the OR Tambo Airport at midnight ahead of the return match, which is scheduled for Wednesday at the Lucas 'Masterpieces' Moripe Stadium in the South African capital of Pretoria starting 8pm.
They had a training session early Monday morning at Camp Toyoyo grounds, which was attended by first choice goalkeeper Boniface Oluoch, who has been down with malaria for the past week.
The local champions carry a slim 1-0 advantage heading into the second leg of the competition, whose winner will be legible to receive a cash reward of Sh27 million from the Confederation of African Football as well as play in the group stages of the competition.
The match will be presided over by Gabonese officials Castane Otogo, Montel Moussounda and Theophile Vinga.
Should they finish the job in Pretoria, Gor will be among the 16 teams that will be drawn into four groups of four teams each.
In the group stages, each team will play their respective pool opponents on a home-and-away basis, with the winners and runners-up in each group advancing to the quarter-finals.
Meanwhile, relegation-threatened SuperSport United remain perilously perched just above the drop zone after a 0-0 draw with Cape Town City in their last league match.
The result extends SuperSport’s winless run to seven matches with three games left to rescue their season.
