Jafari Owitti (left) of Kenya Police (left) fights for the ball with Nabil Aly of Zamalek during their Caf Confederation Cup match on September 14, 2024 played at Nyayo National Stadium.
It was another dismal performance by Kenyan clubs in Africa as the jinx of not reaching the group stage of continental competitions persisted.
Local giants Gor Mahia, the record 21-time Football Kenya Federation Premier League champions, featured in the CAF Champions League.
K’Ogalo on May 19 secured a record-extending 21st FKF-PL title with three matches to spare to guarantee their return to top continental football action.
Gor missed out on the 2022/23 Champions League following a Fifa ban for failure to pay their former players.
Ambitious Kenya Police, on the other hand, won the MozzartBet Cup final on June 29 after beating KCB 8-7 on post-match penalties after a 0-0 tie on regulation time at Police Sacco Stadium in South C, Nairobi to secure their berth in the CAF Confederation Cup.
Gor and Police negotiated their preliminary round assignment in contrasting styles. Gor Mahia lost 1-0 to South Sudan’s Al Merreikh in their first leg encounter August 18 at Juba International Stadium before bouncing back to emphatically win 5-1 in the second leg on August 25 at Nyayo Stadium in Nairobi.
Kenya Police started with a wobble, drawing 0-0 with Ethiopia Coffee in the first leg on August 18 before conjuring up a 1-0 win away in Ethiopia in the second leg on August 25.
However, the journey ended in the second preliminary round when the two sides were paired against feared Egyptian bigwigs Al Ahly and Zamalek. Police exited after a 3-1 aggregate loss to Zamalek in September 22. The Kenyan side was beaten 1-0 in Nairobi on September 14 and 2-1 in Cairo a week later.
Gor, despite their unparalleled status in Kenya, were humiliated 6-0 on aggregate by Egyptian giant Al Ahly.
K’Ogalo, amidst the Green Army bravado, lost the first leg 3-0 at Nyayo on September 15 before going down by a similar scoreline on September 21 in Egypt.
Gor thus missed out on the Sh90 million that they would have got had they made it to the group stage where the winner is assured of pocketing Sh516 million in prize money.
At least the broke Kenyan club got Sh16 million for reaching the second preliminary round. Kenya Police also missed out on the Sh58 million on offer for making the Confed Cup group stage.
The law enforcers, to their credit, gave a good account of themselves and will blame some lapses in concentration for the narrow loss to the Egyptian side.
The early exit of Gor and Police showed, yet again, that Kenyan teams still had a lot of work to do to be at par with the best in the continent.
For the record, no Kenyan club has made it to the group stage of the lucrative Champions League.
The first and only time a Kenyan club made it to the group stage of the Confed Cup was in 2019 when Gor Mahia participated in the competition after being knocked out of the Champions League.
Gor finished second in Group “D” behind Zamalek, and were followed by Petro de Luanda of Angola and Na Hussein Dey of Algeria. Gor beat Zamalek, Petro de Luanda and NA Hussein Dey at home.
In the quarter finals K’Ogalo lost 7-1 on aggregate to RS Berkane of Morocco. Experienced local coach Robert Matano said Kenyan clubs can only perform well in the continent if football in the country is commercialized, leagues have major sponsors and welfare of players is catered for.
“At the time Gor performed well, the club had good foreign players like Khalid Kaucho, Jacques Tuyisenge, Meddie Kagere among others.
“ The league was very competitive because we had good and huge sponsorship and also competitions like Top Eight which were very competitive. What would have made Gor not do well in Africa?” posed Matano in an interview with Nation Sport in September.
“Tanzanian teams are doing well because they are making money in football. Now you can’t get a big player with less than Sh10 million in Africa. Without meaningful sponsorship, poor infrastructure and lack of investment in talent growth, our clubs will not get anywhere in Africa,” he added.
Matano, who currently coaches Sofapaka, has been in charge of Tusker and AFC Leopards and Sofapaka in continental competitions before and will know what he is talking about.
The only time a Kenyan team has won an African title was in 1987 when Gor clinched the African Cup Winners’ Cup aka Mandela Cup.
Gor Mahia also performed dismally in the Cecafa Club Championships held in Zanzibar in July.
K’Ogalo finished bottom of Group “B” that had Red Arrows (Zambia), Al Hilal (Sudan) and Djibouti Telecom.
For the record, Gor lost 2-0 to Al Hilal on July 18, 1-0 loss to Zambian Side Red Arrows on July 10 and drew 1-1 with Djibouti Telecom on July 13 to tumble out of the competition at the group stage and with the ignominy of scoring just one goal.
The clubs was then handled by Brazilian coach Leonardo Neiva who was appointed Gor Mahia on July 1.
Irked fans continuously agitated for his removal and the 46-year-old Neiva who was inevitably sacked on November 13.
Police also sacked their two coaches Kevin Kimani and Salim Babu. But the clear inferiority of the two clubs on the continent had, decidedly, nothing to do with coaching.
