In other news, with current structures Stars will go nowhere

There is news and other news and I will start with the news. On the last day of February, betting firm SportPesa wrote to the Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury asking him to implement certain sections of the Finance Act 2017 to enable them continue sponsoring sporting entities.

That request was informed by the fact they — Pevans Limited, the holding company of SportPesa — are “now aware, from various reports, that the funding of sports will be added to the list of items that are tax deductible…a solution we gladly welcome” but “we are not clear on how this exercise is to be implemented.”

SportPesa’s argument is that the Finance Act 2017 brought with it a heavy tax burden that made them suspend sponsorship and terminate some contracts.

When they announced the drastic steps, there was gnashing of teeth and almost all the clubs and federations that were enjoying the sponsorship windfall, were wailing that they will no longer fund their activities and that, ideally, their respective disciplines were dead.

According to the latest communication from SportPesa, they are “eager to continue to support the sports industry in Kenya” and they are asking for the fast implementation of those sections of the Finance Act 2017.

That should be good news for the lethargic administrators of Kenyan’s sports clubs and federations considering that they started complaining about the death of their outfits immediately the suspension and/ or termination of contracts was announced, as if they used to receive the sponsorship monies on an hourly basis.

But there was also the question about the nature of the contracts they signed with SportPesa. How could the firm just terminate contracts so unceremoniously, and the other parties did not even have the voice to raise an objection or cry foul, and had only the energy to wail, and play victims, and start seeking sympathy and begging?

Such acts by Kenya’s sports administrators speak volumes about their attitude when it comes to the same sporting activities whose growth they claim to be helping and which they actually claim, are growing even when the truth is known.

As a matter of fact, their actions more often than not buttress the fact that Kenyan athletes, in the wider meaning of the word, are on their own and should never trust these men and women who occupy offices of sporting entities.

Even though it is common knowledge that talk is cheap, they — and those who run footballing bodies are the biggest culprits — never miss an opportunity to talk big, and promise the sun, the moon and the stars when they cannot even deliver a good playing ground.

Every now and then, Kenyans are told how footballers will get the best facilities, and how the game is growing, and how Harambee Stars, the national team that keeps getting dimmer with every match, will qualify for coming editions of continental and global competitions.

Drat. This is a tired story. It is a boring tale. It is a white, stupid lie and it is time Kenya’s footballing administrators at all levels, got their act together and started working from the grassroots, literally, and uplifted the game instead of giving promises without any grounding on reality.

Everything is hype, and footballers are supposed to believe the hype, and continue suffering, and hoping, against hope that things will get better and the national team will qualify for the next continental competition or the global one, yeah, 2022 Fifa World Cup is the war cry now.

Kenyan footballers should just play because they love the game, and forget about all these promises because, unless drastic changes are effected right from the playing grounds, and the players’ welfare, growth, health are given priority, Harambee Stars will never qualify for both continental and global competitions for half a century or more. Oh, that is the other news.