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League teams decry pittance

Thursday, December 16th, 2021 09:14 | By
AFC Leopards chairman Dan Shikanda talks to journalists at a past event. PHOTO/Rodgers Ndegwa
AFC Leopards chairman Dan Shikanda talks to journalists at a past event. PHOTO/Rodgers Ndegwa

Kenya’s biggest clubs Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards have decried the low subsidy by the Football Caretaker Committee saying it is barely enough to meet their financial obligations.

The two community clubs were in unison that the Sh300,000 allotment by the committee was a pittance given that they have to honour matches which come with hefty financial expenses and settling the wages of players, lack of defined sponsorship notwithstanding.

Gor Sporting Director Lordvick Aduda, for instance, gave a Sh287,000 breakdown the team will use in their weekend’s Premier League match against Kakamega Homeboyz and noted that the figure can easily surpass the allocation should the team honour every fixture every week.

“Should we take part in every fixture in four weeks, we are talking about spending Sh1.2 million, which is why I think the funding by the committee should be reviewed,” said Aduda.

Leopards Chairman Dan Shikanda said the Sh300,000 was too little to sustain the activities of the club whose little funds was gobbled up by the payment of their former coach Andre Casa Mbungo as directed by world governing body Fifa.

“We can only use Sh300,000 monthly to pay for our training venue and nothing else. Again, remember the largest amount in our coffers courtesy of well-wishers went into paying Mbungo,” Shikanda explained.

He added: “Few day after the committee was unveiled to replace the disbanded Football Kenya Federation, it consulted clubs which the tabled a Sh2 million monthly subsidy to be able to honour the league fixtures only for the committee to say it can only afford Sh300,000 which is too low to unimaginable levels.”

Aduda and Shikanda made the proclamation at a kit presentation at Camp Toyoyo ground yesterday towards Gor and AFC Leopards courtesy of their official sponsors in gaming company Betsafe. The edict comes even as they continue to get half funding from Betsafe, thanks to the vagaries of the Covid-19 during the first and second years of the partnership with the company.

From the initial Sh55 million they were to receive from Betsafe, Gor shall be getting Sh30 million while Leopards will be entitled to Sh20 million down from Sh40 million.

Way forward
However, speaking at the ceremony, Betsafe Chief Executive Officer Victor Sudi said they will meet both clubs when the right time comes to review the package.

“We had to reduce sponsorship due to the impact of Covid-19 which affected corporate entities, not least Bertsafe. But all is not lost and we will reach out to clubs at the opportune time to discuss the way forward,” said Sudi.

In the meantime, the red and green apparel Gor and Leopards received and which are emblazoned with Betsafe logo are simply eye-catching and were designed to the interest of both clubs.

“Go out there and wear it with pride. We agreed the designs and patterns with both teams,” said Sudi.

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