*Undated
Gor Mahia have been given a bye to the next round of the CAF Confederations Cup after their opponents Al Ahly Merowe failed to travel to Nairobi for the return match. The match was to be played today at the Nyayo stadium from 4pm.
Through a letter from a CAF Official, Emad Shenouda, the match slated for today evening has been cancelled. "Reference to the above-mentioned match, we would like to inform you that the Sudanese federation has communicated the withdrawal of the club Ahly Merowe from the competition. Accordingly, we hereby inform you that the match is cancelled and that Gor Mahia have been qualified to the Additional 2nd Preliminary round of the competition. The host federation is kindly requested to proceed with the payment of all financial dues to the officials. A detailed decision will be communicated to all concerned parties in due course, " the letter read.
Speaking ahead of the match, Gor Mahia Sporting Director Lordvick Aduda said they will proceed with their preparations until today 4pm before knowing its fate.
“Until Merowe fails to appear for kick off at 4pm, that’s when we will know the game is not taking place. For your information, the match officials arrived and even trained yesterday in the morning. Our team had a feel of the pitch and we are gearing towards the game,” Aduda said.
“Teams have challenges in travelling, but as the host team, we are prepared to play the match today. As far as we are concerned, we have not received any information either from them (Merowe) or CAF that they are not coming. Our arrangements to host the match are still going on.” K’Ogalo were to head into the game with a comfortable advantage having beaten their opponents 3-1 at the New Suez Stadium in Egypt one week ago in the first leg. After returning from Cairo, Gor Mahia rested most of their key players but still managed to beat rivals AFC Leopards 1-0 in their FKF Premier League derby.
Now that things have changed, K’Ogalo are into the playoffs round where they will meet one of the 16 teams which will have been eliminated in the Caf Champions League first round in a draw to be held next week by Caf. Last season, Gor Mahia took part in the Champions League after winning their fourth straight Kenyan title but they were knocked out in the first round after suffering a humiliating 8-1 aggregate defeat against Algerian side Belouizdad. Gor Mahia then dropped to the Confederation Cup but they could not reach the group stage as they lost 3-2 on aggregate to Zambian side Napsa Stars.
The last time Gor Mahia reached the group stage of the Confederation Cup was in the 2018-19 season under Hassan Oktay, where they were pooled in Group D alongside Egyptian giants Zamalek SC, NA Hussein Dey from Algeria, and Petro de Luanda of Angola.