Striking Gor Mahia players have until close of business today, Thursday, to show cause why disciplinary action should not be taken against them for absconding duty.

The players, who are demanding a portion of the FKF Premier League prize money, have not trained since Monday and missed a trip to Enugu, Nigeria, for the Coal City International Cup.

“You are required to provide a written explanation within 48 hours of this notice as to why disciplinary action should not be taken against you for violating Clause 6 of your contract and Article 14 of FIFA’s Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players,” one of the show cause letters reads in part.

Further, the club will withhold any benefits for the days the players will miss training.

“Consequently, the club will withhold a portion of your salary, allowance, and any other benefits for the period of your absence.”

According to the chairman, Ambrose Rachier, the players are not entitled to the prize money. However, he pointed out that as a sign of goodwill, they have always shared it with them each time the club wins the league title.

“This is something we’ve always done since I was elected as the chairman of the club, despite the fact that we’re not obligated to do so as per the terms of their contracts. Each time we win the league, except for last season when there was no prize money, we’ve always shared a part of the money with the players and technical bench, and we were planning to do so this season.”

The long-serving chairman noted that he called the players on Monday to plead with them to resume training as the Executive Committee worked on modalities of sharing the money, but his pleas were not headed.

“The captain (Philemon Otieno) put me on loudspeaker, and I addressed the players. I expected him to show leadership alongside other senior players, but I was surprised to be told that they left the training ground and went home,” Rachier told Passion Sports.

Meanwhile, Rachier has explained that they did not cancel the trip to Enugu, pointing fingers at the organisers for not meeting their end of the bargain by failing to send air tickets.

“The team was scheduled to fly out on Tuesday evening; however, the organisers of the tournament did not send air tickets and are yet to do so. Whether they developed cold feet due to the players’ action to abscond duty, we can’t tell. They’re yet to communicate officially.”