By GILBERT WANDERA
Local referees will benefit from a three-year kit sponsorship deal by United Kingdom sports manufacturer Umbro.
The deal was unveiled yesterday at a Nairobi hotel and is worth close to Sh4 million.
Under the agreement between Umbro and Kenya Premier League (KPL), the British sports manufacturer will donate kit for all 64 referees for the next three years.
The deal, however, does not include shoes but Umbro representative Donovan Bell said this may eventually be included as the sponsorship progresses.
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"This is just the beginning and intend to make it better with time," he explained. KPL Chairman Elly Kalekwa said the deal is the beginning of better things to come for local whistlers.
COMPETITIVE LEAGUE
"We understand that for our league to be competitive, we must have highly-motivated referees and this is one way of doing that," he explained.
Kalekwa said the KPL would also organise seminars and other workshops to help referees make better decisions on the pitch.
He promised referees would do a better job in the second leg of the league.
"We do not expect to see the same thing which was evident when the league started at the beginning of the season. We hope to eliminate all complaints against referees," he added.
Kalekwa also revealed that a stand-off between KPL and Football Kenya has been sorted out and Fifa-accredited referees will now officiate in the competition.
REFEREES
"We sat down with FKL and sorted out the problem over Fifa referees. We decided to form a committee that will be in charge of appointing referees for our matches, but this is still going on," he added.
KPL Chief Executive Officer Jack Oguda revealed that the company would send representatives to the FKL meeting in Eldoret this Saturday.
"We share the sentiments of top officials in Government regarding the state of football in the country. This is why we have decided to send our representative to the meeting," he revealed.
Umbro also sponsors KPL side Mathare United and club chairman, Bob Munro, said their support to local referees is a welcome move and one that is bound to help the league grow in leaps and bounds.
