Sh12m boost for 2014 Soya gala

Safaricom Communication marketing director, Rita Okuthe (left) with Paul Tergat,SOYA founder and chair and Everlyne Watta on November 27, 2014 at Safaricom House. Safaricom presented Sh12 million in sponsorship for this year’s ceremony to be held on to January 16. PHOTO | CHRIS OMOLLO

What you need to know:

  • The athlete who will be declared the overall Sports Personality of the Year will pocket Sh150,000 while the male and female Sports Personality of the Year will get Sh100,000 each, with first and second runners-up getting Sh75,000 and Sh50,000 each in each of the categories.
  • Chairperson of Soya panellists, Evelyn Watta, said nominations are goin on and the public and sports federations should nominate their personalities and teams by sending them to [email protected]. “Our mode of selection and short listing will be different this time since we shall take every process seriously,” said Watta.
  • Tergat noted that recent reports of doping by Kenyan athletes had put a dark mark on the excellence of the sport in the country, adding that the government and Athletics Kenya must show commitment in investigating the issue.

The public will have a chance to vote for their favourite athletes and teams for this year’s Sport Personality of the Year Awards (Soya) starting December 10.

This was said yesterday when telecomunications giant Safaricom presented Sh12 million in sponsorship for this year’s ceremony. The public will have one month to vote before the awards gala which has been moved to January 16 to give all the disciplines enough time and opportunity to nominate their favourite people and teams.

With athletics having dominated the awards over the years, Soya founder Paul Tergat promised changes on how the winners will be selected and said fair judgement will be given priority.

After narrowing down to the final five contestants in each of the 23 categories by the panellists, Tergat said the public will vote for their preferred teams and individuals from December 10 to January 10, 2014 by dialling *279# on their mobile phones.

BEST EVER

 “The panellist shall not only consider athletes breaking the records or winning some races but a swimmer, who has broken the national record in an international event without necessarily winning will also be considered,” said Tergat.

“The effort the sportsman and woman has applied to break the record also matters. The panellists shall broaden their scope of knowledge in every sport to come up with the best.”

Tergat said this year’s awards are expected to be the best ever after a highly competitive season in sports. “We shall not introduce more categories which can make the awards lose the glamour,” said Tergat.

The athlete who will be declared the overall Sports Personality of the Year will pocket Sh150,000 while the male and female Sports Personality of the Year will get Sh100,000 each, with first and second runners-up getting Sh75,000 and Sh50,000 each in each of the categories.

Chairperson of Soya panellists, Evelyn Watta, said nominations are going on and the public and sports federations should nominate their personalities and teams by sending them to [email protected]. “Our mode of selection and short listing will be different this time since we shall take every process seriously,” said Watta.

“We moved the date of the gala (to January from December) so as to accommodate some disciplines like hockey, basketball and football (Harambee Stars) whose calendar ends late in December.”

Tergat and Watta were speaking after receiving the sponsorship cheque from Safaricom’s director of marketing Rita Okuthe.

During his days, Tergat, who is a former World Marathon record holder (2:04:55) and five times World Cross Country king, said he cared about the value he brought to sports and wanted to see all sportsmen and women win fair.

Tergat noted that recent reports of doping by Kenyan athletes had put a dark mark on the excellence of the sport in the country, adding that the government and Athletics Kenya must show commitment in investigating the issue.

“We want action take on offenders so as restore the country’s reputation in sports,” said Tergat.