That Kenyan Premier League Limited is currently at their worst financial situation in over ten years in no longer a secret, the organization’s staff has not been paid for months now.
For the top management who were known to live large when television money was flowing, the situation has never been so bad.
KPL’s present woes can be traced to last season when they lost their broadcast partner Supersport then title sponsor Sportpesa in quick succession.
They never saw it coming and even if they did they never imagined their “most prized product”, the Kenyan Premier League, would struggle so much to attract replacements.
Since the advent of the modern day KPL over a decade ago, the Kenyan topflight has enjoyed relative financial stability thanks to money from the pay TV behemoth Supersport.
The topflight never lacked a title sponsor over the period until early this year when betting giants Sportpesa pulled the plug on them over taxation row with the government.
But what KPL never did was to make hey when the sun was still shinning; they became too comfortable that they did absolutely nothing to grow the league beyond the pay TV and sponsorship money.
This can partly be blamed on restrictive deal they signed with Supersport, which gave the South Africa based company all the league’s media rights.
KPL does not own the building that houses their headquarters in Nairobi and they still pay monthly rent to a member of its Governing Council, who owns it.
An offer for them to move to the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) premises at Kasarani to save cost has been turned down for fear of them being swallowed.
The dislike between the two bodies is well documented; the situation is no different now only that they no longer wash their dirty undergarments in public.
FKF’s desire to be in direct control of KPL, which is a limited company by ownership, has never been a secret.
Last season they forcefully pushed through the league’s expansion from 16 to 18 teams against the wishes of KPL and Supersport, who took the advantage to flee, as their contract only covered 16 teams.
With clubs no longer getting monthly grants from KPL, most of them like Nakumatt are on the verge of total collapse; players who have now gone months without pay have been pushed to the wall and murmurs are getting louder.
FKF is reportedly taking full advantage of the dire situation to deal KPL the final blow so that they can finally takeover the topflight. KPL’s mandate to run the league is coming to a close in the next two years.
A group of captains, who according to close sources are sponsored by elements within FKF to stir waters, are threatening to rally their players to refuse playing if KPL will not secure a title sponsor in the next coming days.
One wonders if the players signed a contract with KPL or their respective clubs.
They are ignorantly asking why their matches are carried on Free to Air TVs, but they are not benefiting, when they should be pressing their club bosses to take advantage of the glorious opportunity to secure individual sponsorship deals.
The skippers are enviously probing why Media Pro, the Spanish company that produces KPL matches, pay their employees well, while players who toil on the field go home hungry.
But they conveniently fail to mention that the Media Pro deal is wholly financed by LaLiga as part of a partnership arrangement with KPL and no money exchanged hands.
LaLiga’s only gain is an advert they air before every live match and use of their official match balls.
More organized clubs like Mathare United have already milked the free publicity brought about by the FTA platforms to rope in “Ng’ombe” barbed wire as their shirt sponsor replacing betting firm “Betway.”
Meanwhile, FKF should be asked why clubs that are broke and cannot play players are participating in the country’s top most league against CAF Club Licensing provisions which they enthusiastically implemented last season.
FKF’s own National Super League (NSL) has no title sponsor and referees officiating in the second tier are known to ask for “lunch” since they go for months without pay.
So it is ironical to hear that a group of KPL clubs loyal FKF wants to break away with a promise that if they do then FKF will help secure them sponsorship deals.
Under FIFA’s Forward program, national associations are free to come up with projects and present them to the world’s football body for funding.
Rwanda for example chose to build a five-star hotel in Kigali with the help of FIFA funding; FKF on the other hand asked for help in building a TV production unit and the Zurich based body has reportedly dispatched Kshs 500,000,000 for the same.
When the project is finally set, FKF wants to edge out Media Pro and takeover in partnership with Bamba Sports, according to close sources.
KPL had quality and coverage issues with Bamba Sports, who currently produces and airs NSL matches.
Despite their financial problems, KPL are keen to do it right this time and are not in a hurry to sign disadvantageous deals. They are keen on the current FTA arrangement to help grow their brand as advised by LaLiga.
It was for this reason that they failed to agree with Chinese TV giants StarTimes, who demanded full rights including the prime space in front of all teams’ shirts.
KPL also turned down Kshs 75,000,000 a year deal from Sportpesa, who desperately wants to return.
