This archive report was first published on 13 May 2020.
President Uhuru Kenyatta's promise to support Kenyan footballers has yet to materialize, leaving players struggling to pay rent and facing eviction.
On March 8, President Kenyatta pledged to support Kenyan artists, actors, and musicians with a Sh100 million package to cushion them during the Covid-19 pandemic. However, nine weeks later, footballers are still waiting for their share of the funds.
Several Kenyan Premier League players have called Standard Sports, lamenting that they have not received any support from the Sports, Arts and Social Development Fund. One player, who resides in the Pangani area of Nairobi, expressed his frustration, saying, "Lucky for them artists and musicians. As for me, I don’t know where I will go from here because the landlord has issued an ultimatum that I pay the rent arrears or I leave. I am taking care of my sick mother and don’t know what I will do should we be thrown out."
According to the player, when they read about President Kenyatta's pledge, they thought the promise would be fast-tracked, but the wait is now turning into anguish.
It is estimated that the Fund has received at least Sh27 billion from gaming firms since September 2018 to early this year, mostly generated from football betting. However, the Fund has been taken over by the Treasury and renamed Sports, Arts and Social Development Fund, with over two-thirds of the revenue reallocated to non-sports sectors.
Footballers now have to wait for crumbs dropping off the table even after toiling week-in week-out generating the betting revenue for taxation. The Sports Ministry has put together a stimulus programme proposal where 1,530 athletes, including 145 football players, will benefit from the windfall. Each of the 1,530 athletes will get Sh20,000 monthly for three months effective from April 1.
A KPL club chairman took issue with the manner the money generated through football betting had been diverted to other activities instead of helping the players. He posed, "The money is generated through football betting yet from these projections the 145 footballers will get less that Sh15 million from the estimated Sh91 million. So where is the Sports Fund in all this token “generosity”? And where are the majority of now desperate KPL clubs and players?"
