Football feels the heat as Govt dilly dallies on promised funds

With less than a week to the kick off of the 2018 Kenyan Premier League season, the government is yet to disburse the funds promised to the Football Kenya Federation, which, in essence, is hurting the game.

KPL had expected to get a pie of the funds channeled to the national association but with the funds, not forthcoming, they have adopted a wait-and-see approach even as the financial crunch bites.

The league’s title sponsors pulled out citing ‘over-taxation’ following the coming into force of the recently passed Gaming and Betting Bill.

The government had promised the federation and stakeholders that treasury was going to step in and plug the gap.

However, Kenya Premier League CEO, Jack Oguda, has said that the government is yet to remit the funds. Speaking to Citizen Digital, Oguda said they’re still hopeful the government will fulfill its pledge.

“It’s unfortunate that our sponsor withdrew, however, KPL will do everything possible to ensure the matches are played without a hitch,” said Oguda.

The Kenyan Premier League’s woes have also been compounded by the lack of a broadcaster partner for the league. Oguda said they are burning the midnight oil to secure a broadcaster in time. “We are in talks with free- to- air broadcasters and are quite optimistic we will reach an agreement….it’s been a challenge convincing a broadcasting house to come on board in such a short notice.”

Pay television channel Supersport terminated their contract with KPL citing breach of the license agreement.

The misfortunes bedeviling KPL are far from over as the stadia are also few and far between, with the Nyayo National Stadium and MISC Kasarani closed for renovation, while the Kinoru Stadium in Meru is still under construction.