Venue restrictions giving Gor Mahia unfair advantage

Any topic that touches on the “mighty” Gor Mahia is bound to be emotive if not noisy and messy, but this will not stop me from demanding for level playing ground for Bandari in the team’s quest for a Kenyan Premier League title.

Cognisant of the backlash this is likely to generate I still feel it's a subject that should be looked at with an objective rather than subjective eye.

There have been murmurs from several quarters but majorly K’Ogalo’s opponents that the playing field is not even and that Gor Mahia are openly favoured or are at an advantage in as far as the league is concerned because they play almost all of their matches either in Nairobi, Machakos, Kisumu or Afraha Nakuru.

Out of the 34 league matches on the card, Gor Mahia play close to 26 matches at “home”, and bearing in mind that this are areas where Gor Mahia enjoy massive following then their opponents are at a big disadvantage.

I have never been given a good reason why teams from Western and Nyanza namely Sony Sugar, Chemelil Vihiga United and Homeboyz are forced to play their home matches either in Kisumu or Afraha as opposed to their backyards?

The last time I checked, Gor Mahia have never played their league matches against Tusker at Ruaraka grounds, home of Tusker while all other teams have been visiting the facility to face the brewers.

This in my opinion gives Gor Mahia an undue advantage because Kisumu and Nakuru are equally home turfs for Gor Mahia, just like Nairobi.

A level playing field is important in a football league simply because it helps create an atmosphere in which the players can display all their talent in a spirit of fairness, and thus fans can enjoy the game all the more.

While the players' priority may be to achieve the best possible result, it is just as important to achieve it through fair play. This combination of striving for the best result whilst applying the rules of fair play is the very essence of sport.

For football to remain a beautiful game it must be played in the right spirit, and that’s why fair play is crucial.

Without a doubt Gor Mahia is the most popular club in east Africa having won the Kenya national league title a record 17 times, Cecafa Cup three times and the Africa Cup Winners Cup once.

Take away nothing from them, they have worked tirelessly to be where they are and results are there to show, the only major concern is a level playing field with other Premier League rivals.

If Simba SC and Young Africans, two of the most supported teams in Tanzania can travel the entire length and breadth of Tanzania to honour league matches against opponents like Mbao Singida etc and the same happens in Uganda where top clubs among them Sports Club Villa and Vipers play in all approved match venues in Uganda, why not Gor Mahia.

This old and tired narrative of fan trouble has never made sense to me because even Bandari fans can decide to be rowdy if they are not controlled by the club management.

To me it’s the duty of Gor Mahia to handle their rowdy fans and FKF and KPL should be ready to punish any fans in case of crowd trouble as is case the world over.

Otherwise Bandari, who finished second in last year’s league, should also be exempted from playing at Ruaraka, home of Tusker, Sudi Stadium in Bungoma, home of Nzoia, Awendo, home to Sony sugar and Chemelil Sugar sports Complex.