Alfred Wanjohi and Peter Sagini @PeopleSport11
Sofapaka president Elly Kalekwa (pictured) yesterday explained the reasons why players in his team have gone for two months without salary.
Reacting to an article published in People Daily on Monday, Kalekwa said it was not true that the players had not been paid any salary this year, but admitted that they had arrears of two months which he was working on how to settle as the season nears its climax.
Kalekwa who founded the team in 2003 blamed the tough times on a breached contract by the team’s jersey sponsor Betika, whom he signed a deal with in 2017 that was to see the club get Sh50 million from the betting firm annualy for three years, which is no longer the case.
“The situation is tough that I can admit. We have not paid our players for two months and that has been caused by the unexpected slashing of our sponsorship deal with Betika who reduced the package from Sh50 million in a year to Sh15m annually due to the new tax requirements for betting companies,” Kalekwa said.
He added: “Corporate companies should come out and support football teams, that is the only way the industry can grow and become vibrant, most of these corporates have that budget, but unfortunately they shy away.”
Betika’s Manager of Betting Services Kennedy Ochieng confirmed the developments, saying the new tax, forced the firm to re-assess their sponsorship deal with Sofapaka.
