Take on the mighty Gor Mahia at your own peril

Gor Mahia fans last week proved once again that they are a force to reckon with when they took to social media to engage Sports Kenya in a war of attrition that saw the government body cave in and agree that our club will play at the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani after all. Just as it should be. More of that in a bit.

However, the action by the same fans to take the battle to the doorstep of Deputy President William Ruto’s wife, Rachel, was a classic case of blaming the monkey instead of the organ grinder.

The fact of the matter is that a group calling itself Tuombeni Kenya (Let’s Pray Kenya) had a religious meeting at the venue. Mrs Ruto was one of the main speakers at the conference.

According to the organisation’s Facebook page, the prayer meeting was to end on Saturday, March 29, more than a week before Gor Mahia’s crunch match against Moroccan side RS Berkane.

Betwixt lies the catch. In its wisdom Sports Kenya decided to give Kenya Association of Manufacturers access to the stadium to host an exhibition cum shopping extravaganza which was slated to run until April 7, our D-Day with the Moroccans.

As you can see, by this time Mrs. Ruto and her fellow worshippers would have long left the venue, reason why I stated that the missiles directed her way were wasted shots.

Now, the man who got what he deserved was none other than Sports Kenya Director General Pius Metto. In a highly dismissive and condescending letter, the big man who runs sports affairs on behalf of the government categorically told Gor Mahia that the deal with KAM was irreversible because the industrialists had booked the stadium way back in February.

In a tone that revealed the man’s profound ignorance on stadium issues - he is supposed to be the authority on these matters - Bwana Metto told Gor Mahia chairman that they could as well take their match to Kenyatta Stadium in Machakos or Moi Kinoru stadium in Meru.

The good man is right - Gor Mahia has played in these two stadia. However, if he took a little time off his busy schedule and asked around, one of his juniors would have informed the director general that those two facilities are not of the standards required Caf to host a continental match.

Furthermore, when the Gor Mahia management was asking for use of Kasarani Stadium the club’s top honchos were well aware of the existence of the two facilities.

All is well that ends well, so they say and at the end of it all sanity prevailed and Gor Mahia now has the green light to showcase their footballing skills at the country’s premier sports facility come Sunday.

Also, media practitioners say that any publicity is good and at least from the debacle, many in the country are now aware that there is a man called Metto at Sports Kenya.

Wishing K’Ogalo all the best in the encounter.