On March 4, Kenya Premier League Champions Gor Mahia and local betting firm Sportpesa launched their sponsorship deal.
The club has faced financial difficulties since Tuzo ended its sponsorship due to frequent hooliganism incidents. This partnership comes just three days after Sportpesa announced a similar deal with AFC Leopards.
Gor Mahia Chairman Ambrose Rachier expressed gratitude for the five-year agreement, referring to it as a marriage. He stated,
I want to sincerely thank Sportpesa for this marriage. I call it a marriage, although it is only scheduled to last for five years. I am convinced beyond doubt that what’s going to happen in those five years will definitely invite a renewal of the marriage and a new marriage license.
Rachier vowed to combat hooliganism at the club's matches, saying
In the future, I am going to fight tooth and nail to ensure that acts of hooliganism do not take place in the stadium, and when they do, in the very unlikely events they do, the long arm of the law will catch up with the perpetrators.
Sportpesa's Captain Ronald Karauri condemned those who turn clubs into ethnic divisions, stating
Gor Mahia is indisputably a prominent Kenyan brand. Those who try to confine it to geographical zones miss the point altogether. Because the potential inherent in Gor Mahia is one huge on the kind of pride nations build a sense of deep patriotism, purpose, and identity on.
He also emphasized Sportpesa's commitment to
demolishing myopic barriers that force our national brands into ethnic cocoons. We are happy to unlock the potential of our pool of national talent and to give them local purpose and identity as well as international bearing that puts Kenya on the world map.
Karauri urged Gor Mahia to protect the club's brand at all costs to ensure continued support and achievement of collective goals.
