Gor Mahia chairman Ambrose Rachier has expressed his surprise at the constant pairing of East African teams with North African sides in CAF inter-club competitions.
K’Ogalo are preparing to face 12-time champions Al Ahly in the second preliminary round of the CAF Champions League on Sunday in what is a difficult task for the record Kenyan champions.
Meanwhile, Kenya Police will take on another Egyptian giant Zamalek at the same stage of the CAF Confederation Cup and it appears the Kenyan teams have next to zero chance of making it to the well-paying group stages.
It is yet another year when Kenyan sides will take on North African teams in the early stages of the competition and Rachier is puzzled as to why they have to always face the giants of African football very early.
“It is something that has puzzled me, we get knocked out earliest. If I remember since I have been chairman for 16 years,” Rachier said on Passion Sports.
“We have been knocked out by North African teams. Always an Egyptian team, Zamalek or Al Ahly, Esperance. Always you get knocked out at the first or second preliminary round of the tournament by North African teams.”
The Gor Mahia chairman is proposing a change in the way the draws for the competitions are conducted so that the lesser teams have a bigger chance of making at least the group stages.
“Instead of knocking us off, you could deliberately get the minnows to first of all play against themselves,” he added.
“If you go to play in Uganda, Tanzania, Congo so that you get to the money bracket and it helps you survive and improve your club.
“Let us not look at each other as equals because our stages of development and football are completely different.
“We should have a format where the lesser teams face each other and let the giants also knock each other out and maybe in the end, one of them will emerge, but we are giving the minnows an opportunity as they advance which will improve our status.”
