KPL should put players, coaches and clubs first

Puma Managing Director (Middle East and East Africa) Oliver Wirth (left) hands over the Puma KPL ELITE 1 Ball to Kenya Premier League chairman Ambrose Rachier and the league body's CEO Jack Oguda on January 26, 2015. PHOTO | CHRIS OMOLLO |

What you need to know:

  • Success and failure in equal measure as top-tier league rewards its top cream at annual awards ceremony
  • League officials live large, gobbling up the little cash received from sponsors, as footballers live from hand to mouth
  • The consistent development of the SportPesa Premier League over the past decade is one of the few success stories in Kenyan football.
  • KPL’s chief executive officer Jack Oguda and chief operating officer Frank Okoth are the de facto public faces of this organisation.
  • The first major commercial deal was cracked with South African-based Pay television channel SuperSport in 2008.

The finest players in the Kenyan Premier League will be crowned on Wednesday, with every player’s dream being to win an award not only as a measure of success but also a ticket to a better deal next season.

Football being a multibillion-shilling industry, for millions of players in Africa who struggle for basic necessities, it is a prized ticket out of poverty. They want a piece of the pie but it is an inhuman struggle to get there.

The Kenyan club scene is awash with cash from multiple sponsors, yet the barest minimum ever trickles down to the players who do the donkey work.

The consistent development of the SportPesa Premier League over the past decade is one of the few success stories in Kenyan football. At a time when standards of football in Kenya are arguably at an all-time low, mainly owing to challenges in leadership and a lack of structures, the Premiership has offered hope to Kenyans through consistently showcasing the top talents available locally.

The KPL came into being in the wake of a raft of wrangles between the competition’s hierarchies in the final years of the last century.

Since October 2003, the league has therefore been operated and run as a private limited company under the Companies Act of Kenyan law — Kenya Premier League Ltd, abbreviated as KPL, just as the league it runs. It is fully jointly owned and managed by the 16-member clubs that take part in the annual competition.

KPL’s chief executive officer Jack Oguda and chief operating officer Frank Okoth are the de facto public faces of this organisation.

The other success story of the modern KPL administration is its ability to attract multimillion-shilling sponsorship deals.

The first major commercial deal was cracked with South African-based Pay television channel SuperSport in 2008. This deal — which several stakeholders see as the turning point of Kenyan football — was then renewed in 2010 to an estimated Sh200 million a season.

Courtesy of this arrangement, nearly a quarter of the 240 KPL games each season are beamed live to a host of countries across the continent, a development that made it much easier to market the competition.

As part of this deal, each of the 16 participating clubs is entitled to between Sh6 million and Sh7 million in prize money annually. This is beside the prize monies awarded to the winning teams; for instance, the reigning SPL champions, Gor Mahia, are entitled to a further Sh4.5 million.

Other commercial deals were clinched with East African Breweries Ltd, worth Sh60 million a year, which has since been upgraded to a reported Sh100 million annual deal from betting firm SportPesa for the competition’s title rights.

The sportswear maker Puma invests Sh12 million annually in training and donating playing balls to all the teams taking part in the competition.

Despite all this cash injection, however, the financial standing of the country’s top-tier league does not seem as healthy. A simple scratch on the surface suggests that the main stakeholders of the sport are not the real beneficiaries of the deals. 

TALES OF WOE

Tales of players and coaches going for months without salaries, training allowances and winning bonuses have since become the norm with clubs such as Sofapaka, City Stars, AFC Leopards and Gor Mahia (in that order) the most notorious cases in point. Some administrators at these clubs however claim that the grants from KPL are too little.

“Our monthly budget is Sh4 million while KPL only gives us Sh550,000 in that period,” Gor Mahia’s secretary Ronald Ngala told Nation Sport in an earlier interview.

Crucially, the estimated Sh50,000 monthly wage of a KPL footballer is far lower than that of players in competitions from neighbouring countries such as Tanzania and Zambia, whose economies are much smaller than Kenya’s.

Besides, Kenyan players featuring in those leagues are offered a house and a car, among other benefits, amenities that their colleagues in Kenya can only dream of.

And while the KPL is not responsible for the welfare of its individual clubs, questions continue to be raised as to whether — considering its annual budget — more could be done to help the players.

With more than half of the annual Sh220 million budget set aside for administrative and logistical expenses, for example, KPL spent Sh8 million on “meeting expenses” in 2013, according to information on the organisation’s official portal.

HUGE ALLOWANCES

At these meetings, each of the 16 KPL club chairmen in attendance is understood to pocket Sh50,000 in sitting allowances — for an hour’s work. This amount, as earlier mentioned, is what the player takes home after 30 days.

Other notable expenditure includes Sh1.5 million for “media monitoring”, Sh5 million payable to FKF in affiliation fees, Sh1 million used for “travelling” and a further Sh4 million which was used by KPL top officials to attend a conference in South Africa.

Interestingly, this cash flow has coincided with a notable comfort in most of the KPL administrators’ lifestyles. There are stories of officials investing heavily in real estate with one particular senior member now owning an array of flats in one of Nairobi’s middle-class estates.

In contrast, players and coaches continue to live from hand to mouth while clubs featuring in SPL — though considered the best functioning football entity in Kenya — can barely win a competitive match on the regional and continental fronts.

FINANCES

KPL should explore other revenue streams.

While the Kenyan Premier League administrators are coming under scrutiny in the wake of the financial crunch facing several of its clubs, research indicates that most of the financially stable clubs in Africa seldom rely on grants and prize money.  Actually, the sustainability and stability of many clubs is courtesy of a combination of prize money, match day revenue, sale of replicas, sponsorship deals, sale of players, broadcast right deals and other revenue streams.

For example, South African champions Kaizer Chiefs received an equivalent of Sh100 million in prize money for winning the Premier Soccer League last season. They also receive at least three times this amount annually, courtesy of a separate sponsorship agreement with giant telecommunications firm Vodacom. In another example, Egyptian giants Al Ahly signed Malixk Evouna from Moroccan club Wydad for Sh100 million, which is more than the prize money of both the Egyptian league and domestic cup put together (an estimated Sh50 million). Lesson? Administrators of Kenyan clubs need to market their teams and players as “brands” and hire able marketing firms to source for high-end sponsorships. This, however, depends on a vote of confidence with the corporate world, which is lacking thanks to the much infighting, politicking and allegations of widespread mismanagement/corruption in the organisation.

KPL AWARDS NOMINEES

Most Valuable Player: Michael Olunga (Gor), Karim Nzigiyimana (Gor Mahia), Jesse Were (Tusker), Bernard Mang’oli (AFC Leopards), Ebrima Sanneh (City Stars)

Coach of the Year: Frank Nuttall (Gor Mahia), Robert Matano (Ulinzi Stars), Twahir Muhidin (Bandari), Paul Nkata (Muhoroni Youth), Ken Kenyatta (Ushuru)

Defender of the Year: Karim Nizigiyimama (Gor Mahia), Musa Mohamed (Gor Mahia), Noah Abich (Mathare United), Mohamed Sharif (Bandari), Geoffrey Kokoyo (Ulinzi Stars)

Midfielder of the Year: Bernard Mang’oli (AFC Leopards), Khalid Aucho (Gor Mahia), Eric Johanna (Mathare United), David King’atua (Bandari), Anthony Kimani (Bandari)

New Young Player of the Year: Ebrimah Sanneh (City Stars), Eston Esiye (Western Stima), George Mandela (Muhoroni Youth), Alphonce Ndonye (Mathare United), Louis Masika (City Stars)

Goalkeeper of the Year: Boniface Oluoch (Gor Mahia), Jairus Adira (Chemelil), James Saruni (Ulinzi Stars), Farouk Shikalo (Muhoroni Youth), Wilson Obungu (Bandari)

Fair Play Player of the Year: John Baraza (Sofapaka), Vincent Nyaberi (Thika United), Shabaan Kenga (Bandari), Alfred Onyango (Sony Sugar), Gabriel Andika (Western Stima)

New Centre Referee of the Year: Michael Iluve, Judith Muhonja, Raymond Onyango, Juma Turke, Duncan Mudaki

New Assistant Referee of the Year: Stephen Adeya, Eric Sadera, Judy Wamaro, Beth Wambui, George Mwangi

Team Manager of the Year: William Muluya (Mathare United), Jolawi Obondo (Gor Mahia), Nevile Pudo (City Stars), David Mwangi (Ulinzi), Moses Jobita (Western Stima)

Fair Play Team of the Year: Gor Mahia, Western Stima, Bandari, Mathare United, Sony Sugar, AFC Leopards, Tusker