NAIROBI, June 29 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's Gor Mahia team players met with their club management and resolved their differences and will now travel to Dar es Salaam for the regional Cecafa Kagame Cup tournament.
The Kenyan Premier League Champions had not started preparations by Wednesday as players boycotted their training and threatened to withdraw from the Cecafa Kagame Cup, which starts on Sunday in Dar es Salaam.
But a meeting on Thursday resolved the team's problems and the players will resume duty Friday to play a local league match before jetting out to Tanzania for the regional Cup.
Players are demanding money owed to them following their qualification to the CAF Confederation Cup Group Stages, which saw the club pocket 270,000 US dollars as well as allowances from their SportPesa Super Cup win in Nakuru.
"We have settled all salary arrears. The only thing we owe them is the money from the Confederation Cup qualification and this, we promised we would pay 20 per cent," Gor Treasurer Sally Bolo told Xinhua on Friday in Nairobi.
Gor Mahia are second in the CAF Confederation Cup standing and are leading in their title defense in the Kenyan Premier League with an unbeaten run.
CECAFA Secretary General Nicholas Musonye had indicated that Gor Mahia must honour the assignment in Dar es Salaam or face a lengthy ban from all regional competitions. Musonye warned Gor Mahia not to jeopardize the success of the regional tournament.
"They have not informed us officially of their intentions to withdraw but that is a big way to sabotage Cecafa. Gor Mahia should have informed us earlier enough if they were not prepared to take part. We will proceed with the tournament with or without them," said Musonye.
A prize pack of 30,000 U.S. dollars is up for grabs to the winners of the CECAFA Kagame Cup with the runners-up taking home 20,000 dollars, while the third placed team will take home $5,000.
Gor Mahia start their CECAFA Kagame Cup campaign against Rwandan champions Rayon Sports on July 1 and will play Ports (Djibouti) and Lydia Ludic of Burundi in Group C.
Hosts Azam will headline Pool A where they have been pooled alongside Zanzibar's Jeshi la Kujenga Uchumi, Kator FC from South Sudan and a Ugandan representative who will be named later. Group C has Simba and Yanga, Tanzania's top team, as well as Ethiopian giants St. George and Somalia's Dakadaha.