AFC Leopards club patron Senator Johnson Sakaja. [Photo/Capital FM]
The Abaluhya Football Club (AFC) Leopards sports club has confirmed that it will participate in this Sunday’s Kenya Premier League (KPL) Super Cup clash against rivals Gor Mahia.
The Club Patron, Nairobi Senator, Johnson Sakaja revealed that concerted efforts between himself and the club committee had resulted in a new sponsor for the team who will be publicly announced once the deal has been finalised.
Speaking to press after a closed-door meeting at his office with AFC management team on Saturday afternoon, Sakaja revealed that the new sponsor would offer a better package than the Sh55 million deal the team had with previous sponsor Sportpesa.
Sakaja said he had secured Sh1.6 million to offset players’ due allowances as well as facilitate the team to play Super Cup, which they had opted out of earlier this week due to financial constraints.
Sportpesa withdrew their sponsorship early this year, citing difficulties to maintain the partnerships with various sports teams after a 35 percent tax was imposed on betting companies by the government.
Sakaja underscored the importance of sports in reducing unemployment and crime rates and reiterated the government’s commitment to improving the state of various stadia in Nairobi such as the City and Umeme stadia to the level of camp Toyoyo in Jericho.
“Sport is one of the avenues through which we can get our young people engaged. We can get them jobs and make sure that any person in the country earns a decent living from their God-given talents,” said Sakaja.
He expressed full confidence in the new signings to the AFC team as well as the Coach, Robert Matano who he believes is capable to lead the AFC Leopards to their first super cup win this Sunday.
The Senator also promised that he would look into other team issues such as the state of the team bus and if found deficient he would facilitate the purchase of a new one.
The AFC team is also set to represent the country at the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Champions League on February 11, this year at the Bukhungu stadium in Kakamega County.