Tax impasse wake-up call for teams

The country’s most popular football teams are in financial crisis in the wake of Tuesday’s decision by SportPesa’s to abruptly withdraw separate multi-million shillings worth of sponsorship deals.
The giant gaming firm opted to terminate these financial arrangements in the wake of a tussle with government over extra taxes to betting firms primarily aimed at “regulating gambling.” 
As things are,  Gor Mahia, AFC Leopards and Harambee Stars, who each only have one sponsor, have nowhere to turn to, and could even fail to honour their assignments in the not so distant future, that’s unless government intervenes or a miracle of sorts happens. 

“As a result of this decision (by SportPesa),”  long-serving Gor Mahia chairman Ambrose Rachier explained to journalists on Tuesday that he was considering his next step.
“I will be chairing an executive meeting to determine whether we will write to the Confederation of African Football to petition our withdrawal from participating in the Caf Africa Champions League. At the moment, we cannot honour these matches,” he said. 

BEGGING
Leopards chairman Dan Mule was more categorical.
“We are back to stretching out the begging bowls. The club has no other means of income... the support we receive from our supporters cannot sustain us,” he said. Football Kenya Federation too, will have to secure alternative means of meeting the demands of technical director Anders Spiers and Harambee Stars coach Paul Put in the wake of SportPesa’s contract termination. 
All said, the fact remains these three institutions should be doing more, much more, to not only sustain their needs, but also cushion themselves in the event of such financial calamities.
Sample this: If Kampala City Council (KCCA) football club chairman Aggrey Ashaba would find himself in either Rachier or Mule’s shoes, he would, most probably, get up, shake SportPesa CEO Ronald Karauri’s hand and say something like, “it was a pleasure doing business with you Sir.”
He would then head to the doors and disappear behind them as if nothing happened.
How come? 

STAR TIMES
According to KCCA’s former head of marketing and media officer Clive Kyazze, the Kampala-based side, who are the reigning league and domestic cup champions, receive about Sh150 million worth of sponsorship annually from its six sponsors namely,  StarTimes, Britam Insurance, Shell, giant telecommunications firm MTN, Prime Media, and Pay-TV channel AZAM (who are the league official sponsors) plus, of course, owners Kampala City Council, each year. This amount is more than double the amount Leopards and Gor separately pocket from SportPesa each year.

Little wonder then, that KCCA made it to the group stage of the Caf Confederation Cup last year, and managed to defeat top clubs such as Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa), Angola’s de Agosto, Egypt’s Al Masry, Tunisia’s Club Africain, Nigeria’s Rivers United and Morocco’s FAS Rabat in Kampala along the way.

MARKETING

Similarly, Vipers SC, another Ugandan club owned by business mogul and former Uganda Football Association President Lawrence Mulindwa, boasts three sponsors, namely DFCU bank, Hima Cement and Roofings Limited.
This trio collectively inject an equivalent of Sh75 million into the club, again more than the Gor Mahia and Leopards deals.
Uganda FA current boss Moses Magogo is seemingly also doing far better than FKF’s Nick Mwendwa on the marketing front.
That could be the reason the Uganda national football team boasts three separate financial arrangements from Airtel, Nile Special and Bul.
Harambee Stars only have SportPesa, alongside the consistent handouts from Fifa, Caf and high-ranking politicians.