The club have received a stiff warning from club sponsors Brookside Dairy who are far from impressed by the activities of the Gor ffans who went on rampage after failing to capture the Kenya Premier League title following their 1-1 draw with Thika United in a “Milk” derby at the Nairobi City stadium on Saturday. Brookside sponsor both outfits.
“After careful appraisal, our continued association with Gor through our Tuzo brand has been pushed to near jeopardy,” Brookside Managing Director Elias Ocholla stated yesterday.
“Brookside Dairy is appalled that as sponsors of Gor Mahaia, individuals alleged to be associated with the club would occasion so much distress upon Kenyans,” read a statement from Ocholla.
While Gor through their vice chairman David Kiilo sought to distance themselves and their supporters from the acts of hooliganism which, from credible reports caused at least one fatality and damage to private property, Brookside have demanded that the club punish those involved and promise forthwith that they will not tolerate such acts and that those responsible for Saturday’s chaos will be punished.
“We disassociate ourselves from the acts of hooliganism and demand that individuals involved face the full force of the law,” demanded Brookside whose sponsorship deal totalling Sh38 million shillings over two years with Gor ends in April next year.
The milk and milk product processors said they will consider their continued association with the club should such acts not be reined in. “Acts of terror even if resulting from dejection from unfavorable results from a game cannot be justified,” Ocholla stated.
On Sunday, Kiilo said they were also shocked by those events but added their fans could not be involved and those found to have been involved would face severe punishment.
Meanwhile according to Kiilo the season ending match between Gor and Thika United netted the latter little over Sh5m. That however, will be scant consolation for their missing the opportunity to end their 17-year domestic title drought. Club officials revealed 4,917 VIP tickets costing Sh600 netted Sh2.95m while 7,333 tickets sold at Sh300 brought in Sh2.2m