More trouble for Gor Mahia as Polack moves to Fifa over salary

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The British tactician reveals to Goal he has taken his former employers K’Ogalo to the world governing body over his pay

Steven Polack has petitioned the world governing body Fifa to compel Gor Mahia to pay him his accrued salary.

The British tactician left the Kenyan champions after only one season on October 9, 2020, after he requested 11 days to visit his family in Finland, but while away, the club confirmed they had parted ways on mutual agreement.

Polack has told Goal in an exclusive interview he has already sought the help of Fifa after the club refused to pay him his accrued salary and despite the club being given 30 days to pay him, they have failed to meet the Fifa deadline.

“The club and I came to a mutual agreement to cancel the contract, personally it came as a surprise to me, as I had a year left on my contract which I was very happy to honour,” Polack told Goal on Friday.

“We had agreed on compensation, but the agreement was broken when they did not pay what was due to me on the dates we agreed on.

“So I put the case to Fifa who made a decision and gave notice to Gor Mahia to pay what is due to me in full.

"The timescale Fifa gave was 30 days, that time has elapsed as of today [Friday] and I have not received it, so it’s now in Fifa's hands and let’s see what the outcome will be.”

Polack further admitted he did not want to move to Fifa over the matter as he wanted it sorted out between the two parties, but the club forced him to follow that route.

“The people and supporters of Gor Mahia need to know I did not want it to go this far but the club did not leave me with any other choice,” Polack continued.

“Although this experience of non-payment is tiring it has not taken the wind out of my sails, as my love of football and Africa inspires me to keep pushing forward doing what I do best.

“My history in African football shows I made an impact and there is much more that I am capable of bringing to another club in the land I love to be Mama Africa and her people.”

His move comes a few months after Gor Mahia were handed a 10-day notice to pay Ghanaian midfielder Jackson Owusu all his outstanding dues plus a five percent interest accumulated from the relevant due dates.

While Polack did not reveal the amount he is owed by Gor Mahia, Owusu is owed Ksh2.4million and a sign-on fee of USD10, 000.

Early in February, Gor Mahia were punished by Fifa after they were banned from signing new players for a failure to pay Tanzanian player Dickson Ambundo.

Ambundo was demanding Ksh1.2million from the club and Fifa warned the local giants that failure to settle the fines within 45 days upon the delivery of that judgement, they will be barred from engaging in the transfer window.

2021-04-30 10:00:03

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