KPL should think outside the box to save football

Gor Mahia celebrates winning the Kenya Premier League title at Kenyatta Stadium Machakos on Saturday, May 25, 2019. [Boniface Okendo, Standard]

The situation the Kenyan Premier League finds itself in is worrying. It's not in doubt that football stands out among Kenya's top sports.

But the local league is slowly losing its allure. Even as the league entered round 21 at the weekend, KPL is yet to pay Gor Mahia Sh4 million prize money for winning last season's title.

And it only seems to be getting worse for the league organisers. They have not procured a trophy for the 2019-2020 season. Things have not been rosy on the football scene since SportPesa, which sponsored the league as well as Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards, pulled the plug on sponsorship.

The move put KPL in a catch-22 situation as it forced clubs to meet referees' match allowances and dig deeper into their financial safes. 

Whatever is happening at the moment should be a wake-up call, and KPL should look at the sports world through modern lenses for a cue on how to exploit sports marketing. They ought to borrow a leaf from well-organised leagues in Europe and USA.

It's sad they've been relying on a single sponsor for clubs and the federation, and have failed to do thorough sports marketing.

It is shocking to hear KPL say they are unsure if the 2019-2020 league winners will get prize money. It is demoralising not only to the winners, but our budding footballers.

The federation chiefs, KPL and clubs must start thinking outside the pitches and sign multiple sponsorship deals — just the way leading leagues in Europe and America do.