Gor Mahia defender Onyango too broke to attend training - report

Gor Mahia defender Joash Onyango has reportedly revealed the reason he has failed to attend the club’s training sessions.

Onyango, nicknamed the ‘Berlin Wall’ for his heroics in central defence, has – alongside his club captain Kenneth Muguna – stayed away from training for the past fortnight and so missed their Kenyan Premier League (KPL) match against Kariobangi Sharks on Sunday.

The duo’s decision to miss training also irked coach Steven Polack, who moved with speed to appoint new captains Joachim Oluoch and Charles Momanyi ahead of the Sharks game, which Gor Mahia won 1-0.

Onyango, who was voted the best player in the KPL last season, has reportedly told his close friends he is too broke to attend the club’s training sessions.

“He [Onyango] will not attend training because he cannot afford to,” the source explained to Nairobi News.

“The club is in dire financial straits and he has not received his salary for three months. He has a family to take care of and bills to pay. I don’t think someone who has failed to pay you for that period can demand an explanation as to your absence.”

On Monday, Polack told Goal the two players have not reached out to him nor any member of the technical bench on their whereabouts and has given them until the end of the day to see if they will resurface.

“No…I haven’t heard anything yet from [Muguna and Onyango] yet but anything can happen on [Monday], maybe they might get in touch but I don’t know,” Polack told Goal.

Asked if he is ready to welcome the two players back in the squad, coach Polack said: “Let’s see, we will sit and chat them down, I am a very open-minded person when it comes to players, and you know I need to listen to why they were not here and then we can go from there.”

Gor Mahia will now shift their focus to the Caf Confederation Cup where they are drawn to face Daring Club Motema Pembe of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the play-off stage.

K’Ogalo will play the first leg at home on October 27 before they head to the return leg after a fortnight.