Relief for Kenyan sports as SportPesa makes U turn

Kenyan clubs can still have some small hopes with regards to sponsorship after gaming firm SportPesa confirmed their longer stay in the country.

On Friday, the Global chief executive officer (CEO) Gerasim Nikolov issued a statement which showed the company’s discomfort in doing business in the country with a clear indication that they were closing shops.

“There is nowhere in the world where such a huge tax is levied on turnovers and even here in Kenya, no firm can survive today if a 35 per cent tax was put on its turnover.

"Unfortunately, the ultimate effect of us shifting operations from here will be wide considering the various business that depend on this industry.

“Instead of hanging us, they have decided to shoot us. This tax is not founded on any basis other than killing the industry.

"We can only hope that a new consideration can be given before it is left to stifle the industry completely.”

A huge tax cap passed by the government which will force the firm to pay up to 35% of its revenues as from January 2018 is the main cause of the ache.

Kenyan clubs and federations which are under SportPesa’s sponsorship have been handed notice of withdrawal from January 2018 and the hope that things could change was killed with Nikolov’s announcement.

However, SportPesa have come out to clarify the statement insisting that media misquoted their CEO.