The SportPesa debacle should be wake up call to football clubs

Gor Mahia's Patron Raila Odinga (left) and SportPesa's CEO Captain Ronald Karauri during the announcement of the club’s sponsorship in 2016. SportPesa yesterday canceled such sponsorships. [File, Standard]

This piece is long overdue. The situation that Kenyan sport finds itself in is also long overdue. It should have happened earlier, then it could have jolted the bosses, nay, the presidents, and their legions of minions to action. But then again, it would have required them to think — and that is a problem because they are afraid of thinking.

Whatever happened on Friday should be a wakeup call to sports bodies in Kenya. It should wake them up and make look at the sports world through modern lenses. If they do that, they might just realise that they are living in the past when a single sponsor could carry a club or a federation and when there was not much need for sports marketing.