After Football Kenya Federation (FKF) denied Gor Mahia access from streaming their Caf Champions League return leg clash against CR Belouizdad, Caf has now confirmed the club can do so live.
The Kenyan champions had requested the federation through Caf to be allowed to stream the match on their Facebook page but the federation wrote back saying they cannot stream the fixture because their request was made outside of the provided Caf timelines.
Gor Mahia have now received a letter from Caf notifying them to go ahead with the move to stream the game after club chairman Ambrose Rachier wrote to the African body seeking guidance.
“Kindly note the rights for the said game are not centralised and belongs to the club hosting the game,” Caf wrote in their response letter to Gor Mahia obtained by our media house and signed by the Commercial Director Ali Aissaoui.
“Therefore, we do not have any objection to your request, and should such a game be indeed broadcasted, would you be kind enough to communicate the live streaming link?”
In the letter from Gor Mahia to Caf, Rachier wrote to request the authority to stream live on their social media pages the return leg clash against the North African giants.
“We write to request the authority to live stream the said match strictly online and not on national TV station,” Rachier wrote in his letter to Caf and obtained by our media house.
“We had presented the request through the match commissioner at the pre-match technical meeting held in Nairobi on Tuesday and we are yet to officially obtain the direct go ahead, our technical team is already at the match venue waiting for the authority to proceed to layout the equipment ahead of the 3 pm kick-off time.
“We are looking forward to your favourable consideration so that our fans, who are barred from attendance due to the Covid-19 conditions can have a chance to view the match.”
Earlier, FKF through CEO Barry Otieno had stated that Gor Mahia cannot be allowed to stream the match.
“Reference is made to your letter dated January 5, 2021, informing the federation of Gor Mahia’s intention to live stream the Caf Champions League match no. 76 Gor Mahia vs CR Belouizdad, scheduled for January 6, 2021,” read the statement from FKF seen by our media house.
“In this regard, and further to Caf guidelines on the broadcast of Caf competitions, the federation has regrettably been unable to obtain a clearance from Caf for the match to be broadcasted, as the request by Gor Mahia was made outside of the provided Caf timelines.
“In light of the aforementioned, please be advised that live streaming of the said match will not be possible, unless with prior written consent from Caf.”
K’Ogalo are facing a tall order to overturn the 6-0 defeat suffered in the first leg played in Algiers on December 26.
Gor Mahia stand-in coach Sammy ‘Pamzo’ Omollo has openly admitted it will be difficult to reverse the first leg defeat but pointed out a win against the North African giants will boost their morale ahead of the Confederation Cup fixtures.
“We don’t have any pressure, I have spoken to the boys and urged them to enjoy the game, of course, it will be very important for us if we can get a good result and of course it will be a very good platform also if we are going to drop to the Confederation Cup, it will give us that opportunity to prepare more than before, than how we prepare for the Champions League.
The Kenyan champions qualified for the next phase after they managed to secure a 4-3 aggregate win against APR of Rwanda in a two-legged affair.
The Rwandan champions came into the return leg with a 2-1 advantage from their first leg meeting in Kigali, but could not withstand the pressure as Gor Mahia scored two quick goals in added time to win 3-1 to advance.
CR Belouizdad reached the next round after a 4-0 aggregate win against Al Nasr of Libya. The Algerian champions won the first leg away in Tripoli 2-0 and returned home to complete the job with another 2-0 win.