Kenya's biggest betting firm Sportpesa announced its return to sponsoring football in the country just days after the Treasury proposed to lower the gaming tax from 35 percent of revenue to 15 percent.
At a joint press conference held at the Ministry of Sports offices at Kencom House in Nairobi, Sportpesa CEO Ronald Karauri disclosed that they had signed lucrative 3-year deals with a number of sporting entities.
Football Kenya Federation (FKF) will get Sh69 million, Gor Mahia Sh198 million and AFC Leopards Sh159 million while the Kenya Premier League (KPL) has the biggest package at Sh259 million.
“We are extremely excited to be able to partner with these four powerful industry players. As we have always maintained, developing local football talent is a key vision for our company.
"Despite the economic policy setbacks we have suffered over the past few months, we remain committed to supporting local sports as much as we can to get Kenya where it should be, among the great football nations of the world," Karauri stated.
[caption caption="Gor Mahia Chairman Ambrose Rachier addressing the press on 23/04/2018"]
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The partnerships also mean that Sportpesa will feature on the shirts of Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards for the next 3 seasons.
Karauri further reiterated Sportpesa's commitment to seeing the national team feature in the 2022 World Cup to be held in Qatar.
Sportpesa had cancelled all sponsorship deals with local clubs and leagues in January as they protested the hiked tax.
Along with other gaming firms, they maintained that the 35 percent levy would put them out of business and called for a review.
The law came into effect on January 1 although President Uhuru Kenyatta assented to it in July 2017.
[caption caption="FKF President Nick Mwendwa, Sportpesa CEO Ronald Karauri, Sports PS Kirimi Kaberia, Gor Mahia Chairman Ambrose Rachier and other senior officials on 23/04/2018"]
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