Nairobi Governor- Mike Sonko, on Sunday swooped in with Ksh1 million in aid of Gor Mahia FC players whose pictures while stranded at Doha International airport in Qatar went viral.
Gor Mahia was set to face RS Berkane in Morocco on Sunday in a must-win match, but photos of their star players sleeping on the floor at Doha International Airport were doing the rounds on social media.
This led Kenyans to predict an impending loss, as, on top of being behind schedule, the players would still have to travel for 7-8 hours on road to get to Berkane.
“Gor Mahia is a club representing Kenya. It is unfortunate that they had travel challenges. I was requested to boost their morale ahead of the game tonight, so I have sent the players Ksh1 million. It doesn’t matter if they win or lose tonight, they are our team in the competition,” the Nairobi governor asserted.
According to Citizen Digital, Sonko transferred Ksh 500,000 to Gor Mahia's team captain-Harun Shakava through Western Union, promising to send the rest by Monday.
Gor Mahia's camp was thrown into chaos once pictures emerged of star players such as Francis Kahata sleeping on the floor just hours before their crucial Confederations Cup clash.
“We have no alternative but to find a way of passing time before we leave; we will arrive in Morocco in the morning. Definitely, we will be tired, but we will give our best, we felt it is good for the fans to know what is happening," a player told Goal.com.
Their journey to Berkane, Morocco was marred with problems after they struggled to secure the tickets by as late as April 12, 2019.
They had first been turned away at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) after it emerged that they had not secured tickets for the crucial trip.
Club's officials have since come out and accused the players of stage-managing the whole issue, with Sally Bollo (one of the club officials) rubbishing the entire fiasco by stating that the team arrived in Doha at 10am and left at 4pm.
