CAF Champions League: Why Gor Mahia will have to complete transfer business early

Gor Mahia striker Benson Omala in action against Murang'a Seal. Photo: Gor Mahia

CAF Champions League: Why Gor Mahia will have to complete transfer business early

Joel Omotto 11:31 - 04.06.2024

Gor Mahia will not have the luxury of time as they have tight CAF Champions League deadlines to meet if they want their new signings to feature in the continental competition.

Gor Mahia will have to complete their transfer business early if they want their new signings to feature in the CAF Champions League next season.

Confederation of African Football (CAF) has released the schedule for the inter-club competitions of next season being the Champions League, of which Gor Mahia will represent Kenya, and Confederation Cup, which will see either Kenya Police or KCB feature.

The two competitions will kick off with preliminary round of matches slated between August 16 and 18 with group matches scheduled between October and December before the knockout phase and final take centre stage from March to May 2025.

However, crucial to participating teams, including the Kenyan sides, is that players participating in the preliminary round will have to be registered from July 1-20, meaning Gor Mahia and Co must have completed their transfer business by then.

K’Ogalo have already expressed their intentions to strengthen the squad ahead of their return to the Champions League and given they will start at the preliminary round, they will need to get their targets in early to avoid new recruits being locked out.

In case they miss out on the deadline, the new signings will have to wait for the next opportunity which will see players participating in the second preliminary round registered between July 21 and August 31.

However, that would be a risky move since there are no guarantees that any of the Kenyan teams will make it past the preliminary phase given the poor performances witnessed in recent years. Players participating in the group stages will be registered from September 1-30.

Departed Gor Mahia coach Johnathan McKinstry had explained that K’Ogalo will need to be rock solid in defence if they are to have a chance in the continental competition which pointed at possible reinforcements in defence as well as midfield.

“I have a different view of the CAF competitions than a lot of people. You need to be rock solid defensively to do well in CAF,” McKinstry told LigiTalk in May.

“It is important to be able to score goals at key moments but if you go away to north, south Africa or Ghana and concede a couple of goals, you are out.”

Gor Mahia’s best run in a CAF competition in recent years came in the 2018-19 season when they reached the quarter-final of the Confederation Cup under Turkish coach Hasan Oktay.

Unlike previously when teams that were eliminated in the second preliminary round of the Champions League dropped to the Confederation Cup, that will no longer be the case, making the work of Gor Mahia more difficult.

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