体坛英语新闻：Kenyan football champions broke, may pull out of premier league

NAIROBI, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan league champions Gor Mahia are cash-strapped and may pull out of the premier if there is no solution to the financial crunch.

Gor Mahia chairman Ambrose Rachier said the club does not have money and was looking for funds from well-wishers.

"Gor Mahia has no money. The club is surviving on donations from friends and might stop participating in the league," Rachier said.

Rachier was speaking Thursday during the launch of a pay bill number through which well-wishers can send their donations to bail out the club.

"Soon the club will come to a halt. The players are people with families and next week they will have landlords knocking at their doors demanding for rent."

The chairman said the monthly bill for salaries for the players amounts to 32,000 U.S. dollars exclusive of the daily training allowance of between six and 12 dollars.

"The quarterly office rent of 3,000 dollars, winning bonuses, medical expenses, water and other requirements brings the club's monthly expenditure to over 53,000 dollars, which we do not have," Rachier said.

The chairman disclosed that it was now official that Tuzo, the official shirt sponsors for the last season ceased to be the club' s financial backers on March 31.

The milk processing company sponsored Gor Mahia to the tune of 32,000 dollars to cover salaries for the players, kit and operational costs.

This week, the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) slapped the club with a 1.4 million dollar tax demand note, a move that could easily bring down the club, considering that it lost a key sponsor last month.

The taxman wrote to Gor Mahia last week demanding that the club pays the said amount or risk hefty fines.

"We do not know how the figure was arrived at. Gor Mahia is a society, not a profit-making venture, and therefore not supposed to pay taxes. The colossal claim has crippled the club by serving agency notices to nearly all our financial sources," the chairman said.

"While we are taking appropriate action to address this unfortunate claim, we wish to send a passionate appeal to all the club's adherents to come forward and contribute generously towards helping the club offset some of the most pressing bill I have already mentioned."

John Pesa, Gor Mahia first vice-chairman appealed to the club's fans to allow systems in place to succeed so that the club makes revenue.

"If you call yourself a genuine fan of Gor Mahia then you should pay your way into the arena instead of jumping over walls to gain free entry. Gor Mahia needs every penny it can lay its hands on," Pesa said.

Chris Omondi, club secretary said the club has embarked on a new dispensation to take it to the next realm; a journey that he said cannot be left to the few elected members of the executive council.

"We have already instituted several administrative changes that we believe will eventually help us realize this dream. The club will be run by professionals in order to realize full potential," Omondi said.

Gor Mahia FC was formed in 1968 and has won the league a record 13 times. They are the only team from Kenya and the region to have won an African continental title, a feat they achieved in 1987 when they won the African Cup Winners' Cup.

The club, which has the most fanatical following in the country, won the 2013 league after a dry spell of 18 years.