Football Kenya Federation clubs to renegotiate with MP & Silva directly

FKF Premiere League Chairman and sponsor of Nairobi Champion's Cup 2015 Nic Mwendwa address during the unveiling of Nairobi Champions Cup 2015 at Hotel SixEighty on Tuesday, May 5th, 2015. PHOTO/ JONAH ONYANGO.Caption

Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Premier League (FKF-PL) clubs will now be involved in renegotiating the stalled broadcast deal with MP & Silva.

The clubs won this major concession during a meeting with Football Kenya Federation (FKF) chairman Sam Nyamweya yesterday.

This means that should MP & Silva agree to resume sending grants, the money will go directly to the FKF Premier League company instead of the federation.

Speaking after the meeting, FKF Premier League chairman Nick Mwendwa said they hope to begin renegotiations within two weeks.

The league’s broadcast sponsors stopped sending grants to clubs in April, arguing that the deal they had signed was for the top league and not the second tier.

Under the deal with MP & Silva, FKF-PL clubs were supposed to be given Sh1million per month.

“We met today as clubs to discuss issues affecting us. One of the things we have agreed with FKF is to that we engage the sponsors directly.

“We expect this issue to be resolved within the next two weeks.

“In the meantime, we have agreed to resume playing this weekend even as the federation has promised to pay off outstanding payments for referees,” he explained.

Oserian treasurer Samuel Marete admitted the situation has been dire for the clubs since the grants were stopped in April.

“The best thing that has come out of this meeting is the fact that from now on, the company running the league is now under the control of the clubs and not the federation.

“We are now free to engage the sponsor,” he said.

Shabana Organising Secretary Steven Kyama admitted that unless the club receives a massive financial injection, it will be difficult for them to honour upcoming fixtures.

“We have called for a fundraiser today to raise money that will help us honour our weekend matches. We urge fans to turn up in large numbers and help us continue playing matches,” Kyama said.

However even with the major concession won by the clubs, they will not be able to receive any more money from MP & Silva.

According to Andrea Silva, the company has already exhausted its grants to clubs for this year.

“We have sent them Sh83million and for what we got, it is enough for this year,” he said in an interview from Addis Ababa.