Gor Mahia has revealed that the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) ignored warnings from police over the highly anticipated and tense fixture against Shabana FC on Sunday.
In a statement signed by Club Chairman Ambrose Rachier, the club detailed the blow-by-blow account of events at the Gusii Stadium a day earlier, which left at least 72 fans injured.
The club, in a scathing statement, denied any wrongdoing in the fracas before the game against Shabana FC, the home team, as the club alleged there were pre-planned riots before the Kenya Premier League encounter.
According to K'Ogalo, the club had raised concerns about players' and fans' safety to the Leagues and Competitions department, urging intervention since playing such a high-stakes game at the Gusii Stadium posed a security risk.
"Despite having registered a legitimate concern with the Leagues and Competitions department of having to play such a High Risk match at Gusii Stadium, they chose not to intervene even after the security personnel led by the OCPD Kisii Sub County (Nyaribari Chache Constituency) advised that from their assessment, the prevailing environment was volatile and hence there was a need to call off the match," Gor Mahia alleged in the statement.
According to Gor Mahia, the FKF pushed for the Sunday match to proceed, despite the safety concerns.
In their statement, Gor claims the match commissioner had initially considered the club's pleas, as there were assurances moments before the game that the match would not be played under such tense conditions. This stance, however, changed after the intervention of the FKF.
"During an urgent meeting involving Gor Mahia and Shabana officials, security agencies, Azam representatives, SSOs, and the Match Commissioner, we were shocked when he reversed his position,' Gor alleged.
"Despite the OCPD advising against proceeding with the match due to safety concerns, the Commissioner stated he had received instructions from FKF to go ahead at all costs."
The record Kenya Premier League champions also faulted Shabana FC for failing to adequately ensure proper security mechanisms were in place since they were the hosts. "Shabana FC also failed to take adequate measures to prevent the throwing of missiles, bottles and other harmful objects on the playing field and the match was stopped five times."
Gor Mahia called on FKF to 'take the running of the top league seriously and ensure that the rules and regulations governing Kenyan football are adhered to fully '.
Gor Mahia's statement came just hours after the FKF confirmed investigations were underway to establish the root cause of the chaos.
Through the statement signed by FKF President Hussein Mohammed, the Federation confirmed that at least 72 fans had to be rushed to the hospital with injuries from the incident.
