SportPesa chief executive Ronald Karauri. PHOTO | FILE
SportPesa CEO Ronald Karauri has chided Football Kenya Federation (FKF) president Nick Mwendwa over the recently unveiled Kenyan Premier League sponsorship deal from Nigerian betting firm BetKing.
Last week Mwendwa announced that BetKing will sponsor the Kenyan Premier League for the next five years to a tune of Sh1.2 billion.
VOTE HUNTING
Mwendwa also said each KPL club will receive Sh8 million per season and has called a meeting of all league club chairmen on Wednesday to explain to them the finer details of the sponsorship.
But through a tweet, Karauri castigated FKF for ignoring local betting companies saying it is Mwendwa’s way of seek votes in the upcoming elections.
“FKF, even if it’s looking for votes, shouldn’t you have considered Betika or Odibet or any of the other 100 per cent licensed Kenyan companies?” Karauri tweeted.
Karauri signed a sponsorship deal with the KPL before SportPesa exited the country last August after failing to agree with the government on the issue of taxation.
FOREIGN CLUBS
But in his response, Mwendwa reminded Karauri that SportPesa has also been sponsoring foreign clubs in deals running into billions of shillings.
“Not a fair comment Captain! Coming from you and knowing that football supported you even when you went outside and sponsored others for more than Kenya,” Mwendwa replied.
Gor Mahia chairman Ambrose Rachier has similarly cast aspersions at the new sponsorship deal saying his team is only focusing on the recently launched Sh55 million per season Betsafe sponsorship.
