Safaricom to withdraw rugby, athletics and football funding

Safaricom chief executive Bob Collymore says his company will pull out of all sponsorship deals with three federations in Kenya, denying them hundreds of millions of shillings in funding.

Mr Collymore plans to cut off the football, athletics and rugby federations, which have been marred by controversies and claims of corruption that have led to a push for a regime change to reform the three sectors.

Speaking exclusively to Business Daily, Collymore said that the lack of transparency has dented the image of football, athletics and rugby management and they have to put their houses in order.

Safaricom signed a Sh140-million-a-year deal with Kenya Rugby Union in 2013 to sponsor the local Sevens circuit (Dala Sevens, Christie Sevens, Kabeberi, Driftwood and Prinsloo Sevens) under the Safaricom Rugby Sevens Series banner. Last year, the sponsorship agreement was renewed for a further three years.

The mobile giant also sponsors the Safaricom Athletics Series, which last year saw Sh47.5 million poured into 15 Athletics Kenya and community races, in addition to funding national trials and events such as the Sportsman of the Year gala (Sh12 million in 2013).

Collymore says the control of such funds needs to be above reproach.

“I can’t think of any solid corporate leader that wants to get into space where you don’t have control over how your money is spent,” he said. “We are custodians of shareholders’ money and I can’t think of any sponsor who wants to get into activities where unethical behaviour continues.”

Safaricom’s football sponsorship is limited to stadium, security and team welfare matters thanks to the management woes that dog the sport.

An attempt to fund a youth football tournament, Sakata Ball, was scuppered in 2012 — after two successful outings in which the mobile giant spent Sh130 million — when FKF demanded 20 per cent of the sponsorship money.

The company has now ventured into sponsoring arts and medical campaigns. Last week, the telco sponsored a jazz festival in Nairobi.

Safaricom will not sponsor any federation until they demonstrate proper management of the funds that are allocated to them, the CEO said.

“There are things that demand our money; a lot of things are demanding our money. We will move money to the federations provided that people can demonstrate they know how to manage it.”

Collymore said sport is important and once the federations come clean, they will get behind them.

READ: Bad year for rugby as politics trigger management fallout

The current football crisis in the country continues with FKF — the Fifa-approved football custodian — picking top-tier national league side for their league after negotiations with the Kenya Premier League did not bear fruit.

FKF have now launched their own league FKF Premier League setting the stage for two parallel leagues in the country. Similar crises have engulfed athletics, where 14 branch chairmen await a court ruling before proceeding with a special general meeting in their bid to oust the current chairman Isaiah Kiplagat.

Kiplagat has been accused by his opponents of corruption as well as compromising the anti-doping laws, a vice that is slowly diminishing Kenya’s international athletic prowess and stature of many years as the athletics nation. During the 2014 Safaricom Sportsman of the Year Awards gala night, Sports Cabinet secretary Dr Hassan Wario told AK brass to resign and urged sponsors to review their partnerships with corrupt federations.

Meanwhile, a change of guard is looming at the Kenya Rugby Union with Richard Omwela, a former chairperson championing for another chance at the helm when elections are held on March 7. Accusations of financial impropriety and infighting led to the resignation of KRU chairman Mwangi Muthee last December.