Betting company, Sportpesa, has signed a Ksh 126 million deal with Kenya Rugby Union as Shujaa target consistency at the Sevens Series
Sportpesa has unveiled a Ksh 126 million deal with Kenya Sevens for a period of 3 years. The partnership was officially unveiled on Thursday, at the RFUEA grounds in Nairobi.
KRU chairman Oduor Gangla expressed his optimism over the deal,
“We are pleased to be reunited with SportPesa as we seek to steer our national sevens team to even greater heights on the continental and global front, something that ties in well with SportPesa’s ambition to steer the country to greater global sporting heights.
“We want to put the players in better and bigger contracts so that there is more push to work and deliver.
“We are looking to have them contracted for up to the 2024 Olympic Games so that there is a bigger and long-term plan.”
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Sportpesa CEO and Kasarani MP, Ronald Karauri, said the jersey sponsorship deal is specifically for players’ welfare. He added that Ksh 42 million will be used annually for the cause, with Ksh 20 million set aside for bonuses for players and the technical bench annually.
The sponsorship deal is for Kenya Sevens only, according to the KRU Chairman, who also urged more sponsors to take up Kenya Simbas and Kenya Lionesses among other Kenya Rugby Union projects.
Following a prolonged tax dispute, Sportpesa withdrew sports sponsorship in 2019 despite sealing a 5-year deal worth Ksh 607m. In 2022, Sportpesa make a timely return ahead of the Hamilton and Sydney Sevens in January next year.
Kenya Simbas duo of Kabras’ flyhalf Brian Tanga and Menengai Oilers’ center John Okoth have been called up to the Shujaa squad much to the delight of Head Coach McGrath, “We are quite thin on experienced players in the squad with only Nelson Oyoo, Billy Odhiambo and Willy Ambaka. Bringing in Tanga and Okoth who have played at the international level before, will be a big boost for us as we hunt for consistency in the remainder of the series.”
McGrath also added that the team’s welfare was crucial and expressed optimism in more consistent results, “We are on a rollercoaster of a season. There were some bright moments in Dubai but we could not replicate the same in Cape Town a week later. There are some aspects of our play we have to keep improving on especially kickoff reception, catch and pass, defense as well as reducing the margin of error going forward.”
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