Elly Kalekwa: We have not paid Sofapaka players for two months

BetOdds KPL Sofapaka v Kariobangi Sharks Sofapaka Kariobangi Sharks

Batoto ba Mungu president admits that it is becoming difficult to manage the 2009 league champions in the top flight

Sofapaka president Elly Kalekwa has admitted that they haven't paid theirÂ playersâ€™ salaries for the last two months.

Initial reportsÂ indicated that the 2009 league champions have not paid players the whole of this year, which the administrator has denied.

In his interview with Goal, Kalekwa saidÂ title sponsors Betika slashed their sponsorship package greatly, something which affected the day-to-day running of the club.

â€œIt is not true that we have not paid our players since December, we owe them just a two monthsâ€™ salary which we hope to pay soon"Â Kalekwa told Goal.

"The problem came about when our sponsors Betika reduced the sponsorship to Sh15million from Sh50million due to the new tax requirements for betting companies..â€œWe use about Sh4million a month to run the club, now you can imagine what Sh15million -which we receive annually, can do. The situation is really tough.â€

The Government of Kenya announced a 15% tax increase for all betting companies across the country and despite cries from the stakeholders to reduce that, all pleas fell on deaf ears.

But Kalekwa believes that the corporate world can do something for the game.

â€œI also take this opportunity to urge the corporate world to come out and support the game in the country. I know they have a budget for it, but due to reasons well known to them they tend to shy away from sponsoring teams in the Kenyan Premier League (KPL),â€ he concluded

Chemelil Sugar, Mount Kenya United, Vihiga United, and Sony Sugar are just some of the teams that have not paid their players up to date.

2019-04-17 10:00:02

Comments

Send Your Comment

Download Application