Gor Mahia’s English tactician Mark Harrison has called upon African football governing body CAF to rein in on the growing dirty tricks being deployed by home teams as a way of frustrating visiting sides in continental matches being played either in the Champions League or the Confederation Cup.Last weekend, the already lean Gor squad fell victims of the shenanigans as two of their players in striker Jules Ulimwengu and midfielder John Ochieng were barred from taking part in their first leg Confederation Cup tie against Congolese side AS Otoho d’Oyo after they were allegedly accused of returning positive Covid-19 tests upon the team’s arrival in Brazzaville, Congo.🟢 | UPDATE Our two players ( Jules & John) who ‘tested’ positive for Covid-19 in Congo will be in quarantine for 8 days before being allowed to travel back to Nairobi, Sporting Director Lordvick Aduda who is with them confirms.#Sirkal | #Betsafe pic.twitter.com/IWecvghS6t— GOR MAHIA FC (@OfficialGMFC) November 29, 2021 Consequently, Gor were only left with fourteen players eligible to take part in the match, much to the chagrin of the Gor Mahia head coach who labelled the tricks as mocking and devaluing to Africa’s top notch interclub competition.“I do not think I was surprised because I know what African football is like but I was disappointed. It is time this stuff stops now. CAF need to take control of this situation. They keep allowing these things to happen and while they keep allowing it, these things will keep happening. It is time it is stopped,”🟢 | TRAINING All about preparation for Sunday’s CAF match against Otoho d’Oyo at Nyayo stadium. #Sirkal | #Betsafe | #TotalEnergiesCAFCC pic.twitter.com/aiiUiApW5A— GOR MAHIA FC (@OfficialGMFC) December 2, 2021 “When a team resorts to those sort of tactics to win a game, then it actually devalues and makes a mockery of the competition and I feel very sad for it. It is enjoyable to play in CAF and to go and test yourself against other teams in other countries but when such things happen it devalues the competition and I think it is time CAF steps up to do something,” the fuming head coach told Mozzart Sport.Despite losing 1-0 in Brazzaville, Harrison still believes his side have a fighting chance with the second leg slated for Sunday at Nyayo National Stadium.“The result we had in the end was a good result considering everything we had to put up with. So we move on, and we are still in the game and we have a chance on Sunday to make things happen,” the head coach added.🟢 | UPDATE Our next assignment is on Sunday at Nyayo stadium, a big one. #Sirkal | #Betsafe #TotalEnergiesCAFCC pic.twitter.com/cyTFMZYFsT— GOR MAHIA FC (@OfficialGMFC) December 1, 2021
