Oguda: KPL prize money could be Sh10m

The winner of the Kenyan Premier League could earn an unprecedented Sh10 million in prize money.

KPL chief officer Jack Oguda on Thursday said that with the current sponsorship status the league was enjoying this was a figure that was appropriate for a Kenyan club champion.

“We have the Tusker sponsorship now worth millions of shillings. The KPL chairmen will be meeting in the next two weeks to review the prize money. It could go up depending on what they agree,” Oguda said.

The KPL boss said that many times clubs found themselves with huge financial obligations particularly when they qualified to play in the African Champions League.

“Preparing and flying out a team of over 20 to another African country to play is so expensive. A substantial prize money will help the club in addition to giving the league contestants a huge incentive to win the Kenyan title,” Oguda said.

Major boost

As matters stand now, winning the top football league in the country earns a club Sh3.5 million broken down as follows: Sh1.5 million as outright prize money; Sh1.5 million to fund their Champions League budget; and Sh0.5 million as part of the league’s ranking payment reward.

Last week the KPL received a major boost when Tusker bought title rights to the league for a massive Sh170 million for three years.

Meanwhile, in African football, Esperance of Tunisia will create a record for the longest unbeaten CAF Champions League run if they avoid defeat Friday at ASO Chlef of Algeria.

The ‘Blood and Gold’ have not lost in 19 matches since going down 2-0 away to ASPAC of Benin last year and drew level with previous record holders Al Ahly of Egypt thanks to a 1-0 win over Nigerian visitors Sunshine Stars two weeks ago.

They could have surpassed Ahly already with home and away victories over fellow Tunisians Etoile Sahel, but they were disqualified because of crowd trouble.