LG, sports scribes pen new deal
LG Electronics Kenya Marketing Manager Moses Marji (right) exchanges documents with Sports Journalists Association of Kenya president Chris Mbaisi after signing an extension to their sponsorship deal which supports the Kenyan Premier League Player of the Month award on February 13, 2018 in Nairobi. PHOTO | CHRIS OMOLLO |
What you need to know:
- The company will also engage the winning players in Corporate Social Responsibility activities three times every year within their surrounding areas.
Giant electronics manufacturers LG Tuesday signed an improved sponsorship deal with Sports Journalists Association of Kenya (SJAK).
The new deal, up from Sh3.5 million last year to Sh6 million, will go into the facilitation and selection of both the Player of the Month and Player of the Year awards which are both run by sports journalists.
The winners of the monthly award in the Kenyan Premier League have been receiving a 49-inch TV, a trophy and a cash reward of Sh100,000 courtesy of online betting firm SportPesa. This year, the deal will also see the sports journalists hold the Player of the Year award ceremony (involving eight categories) which will be held at the end of the season.
In addition, the company will also engage the winning players in Corporate Social Responsibility activities three times every year within their surrounding areas.
All this was made public yesterday during a ceremony held at the company’s offices, where LG Electronics Kenya Marketing Manager Moses Murji said that they would look into widening their support for local football in the coming years.
“We want to encourage more people to play sports because we recognise the role of football in Kenya’s social fabric. Since we started this journey in 2015, we have seen tremendous growth. We want to make football an essential vehicle for the socio-economic wellbeing of the country,” Murji said.
“We are happy to renew this partnership and we hope that by doing so we shall impact positively on individual players and on football development in general.”
This is the fourth year in which LG are sponsoring the monthly football awards, and the second year they are bankrolling the Player of the Year awards.
"We have seen the excitement in our league grow with these monthly awards and it is due to generosity of supportive companies like LG. The two awards have increased competition within the league because every payer wants to be the best and win,” said SJAK chairman Chris Mbaisi.
“It is not a cash award, but its effect in motivating our local players is significant so we hope that this partnership will remain for as long as possible.”
