Betika becomes the first company in Kenya to sponsor the National Super league as the betting firm plans to inject 90 million shillings in support of the second tier football league.
Betika signed a sponsorship deal with the Football Kenya Federation (FKF)where it will support the National Super League with 30 million shillings each year for three years.
For the next three years, the National Super League will now be referred to as Betika National Super League in honour of the new sponsor, Betika.
The 90 million deal signed between Betika and FKF will help support all the 20 teams in the National Super League who have been struggling financially for a very long time.
Each club in the National Super League, will receive a share of 15 million shillings per year whereas the remaining 15 million shillings will go to the FKF for administration purposes as the contract suggests.
“We are celebrating this partnership at a difficult time for football. We thank Betika for coming in at a time when the industry is in a whirlwind and clubs are suffering. This deal could not have been more timely. It is a small step in the right direction,” FKF president Nick Mwendwa said.
According to Nick Mwendwa, the NSL clubs will continue will receive the grants directly so that they manage them by themselves and pay match officials in due time.
“We believe this is the best way of running the league as the referees receive their allowances before a match. We do not want a situation where we have accruing debts for match officials at the end of the year,” Mwendwa argued.
Betika Commercial head John Mbatiah said that the new deal with the NSL clubs is part of the firm’s initiative to support and develop the local community through sports and arts.
Through its recently launched programme dubbed the ‘Betika Na Community Initiative’, the firm plans to invest in social activities to help nurture young talents and improve the well-being of the community.
“We also believe we can influence positive change among the youth through creating an atmosphere of talents and skills development in sports. These are the same players who will hopefully, steer Kenya to qualify for the 2022 World Cup,” said Mr Mbatiah.
The NSL clubs will receive the first batch of the grants by the end of the week as most of the fixtures are scheduled to continue countrywide.