I am currently reading “Gideon’s Spies: The Secret History of the Mossad”.
In this very engaging book, Welsh author Gordon Thomas gives us a rare insight into the Israeli intelligence service which has earned global renown for the way it deals with those it deems a danger to the well-being of the Jewish state.
In here you will see some of the daring missions the agency’s sleuths have embarked on in nearly every corner of the globe.
You can read how Nazi era murderer Adolf Eichmann was snatched off a Buenos Aires street, airlifted to Israel where he was tried and hanged.
Perhaps close home would be how Mossad arranged to rescue hostages from Uganda’s Entebbe Airport.
Hijackers sympathetic to the Palestinian cause had hijacked the plane an made several demands failure to which they were going to kill the hostages.
You can also read how Kurdish leader Abdulla Ocalan was arrested by the same spies- acting in the interests of Turkey — right from under our noses in Nairobi.
In all these cases, what is striking is the meticulous planning that goes into every mission.
From transportation to lodging arrangements, food and back up teams that are ready to swing into action if something goes wrong, this is a book that can make for a good reading for those in management of any organisation.
I am bringing this up because of one simple matter — the illegal sale of Gor Mahia replica jerseys and where we might probably call in Mossad.
We will all recall that towards the end of last year, betting giant SportPesa came back on board to support our beloved club.
As is normal in such matters the company also unveiled very sexy playing and training kits for the club with the sponsor’s name emblazoned on the front of the shirt.
Football tradition worldwide has it that replica jerseys are sold to fans who faithfully adorn them when attending their respective club’s matches.
Selling such jerseys is big business and clubs make tidy sums from such sales.
Manchester City remained the richest football club in the world in 2023, according to the Deloitte Money League, which was published on January 19, 2023.
Available records show that the club earned some British pounds 76 million (about Sh11,684,799,808) from merchandise sales in 2021/2022 season.
Come to Gor Mahia and things take a different turn altogether. Right now the market is flooded with freshly minted replica jerseys. Which would not be a bad thing in itself.
The problem—and a big one at that— is that this is the work of one official.
What is annoying is that the said official appears to be well-known to the club but no action is being taken against him.
It is highly inconceivable that a club led by well-learned chaps cannot solve a simple crime of pointing out who among them is fleecing the club.
My advice to the club’s faithful is to boycott buying these fake jerseys and let this shameless, under-bred guttersnipe thieving official burn his fingers in this devilish scheme.
Meanwhile, my challenge is to the club leadership to name the said person. We do not need the Mossad to come in and help us with this.
Or do we agree that the entire Gor Mahia leadership is part of this conning game and hence the lack of practical action?
