The Kenya Rugby Union (KRU) will issue guidelines on how clubs and the union can jointly bring on board “valuable partners” without infringing on sponsors interests.
Mwangi Muthee
Mwangi Muthee, the KRU chairman, said he will announce the new sponsorship structure on Monday.
However, he discouraged clubs from engaging with sponsors who are in direct competition with the union’s premier financial backers.
“We are in a good, enviable situation where, increasingly, companies want to give money to our clubs and the union. But when there are competing businesses involved, we have to conduct ourselves in a way to respect the rights and privileges of each of them,” said Muthee.
The chairman was referring to a case last week, which threatened the cancelation of the Driftwood Sevens tournament at the coast because, the organisersMombasa Sports Club, had brought on board SAB Miller of South Africa (makers of Castle beer), a direct competitor to the union financier East Africa Breweries, through their premier brand Tusker.
In a three-year-deal, EABL had given KRU Sh15 million annually to pay for management costs, including organising countrywide leagues and tournaments.
It meant EABL had a stake in the Safaricom Sevens’ series, including the Driftwood round, which the company had already pledged Sh500, 000 to support before holding back after learning of the SAB Miller involvement.
“We now have an agreement with EABL that they will, in the new season, support the Kenya XV team bid to qualify for the 2015 Rugby World Cup as well as hosting the final round of the CAR (Confederation of African Rugby) zone qualifier,” said Muthee.
The Driftwood Sevens event is one of five seven-a-side rugby tournaments forming a Kenya national circuit with Safaricom as the main sponsor.
Muthee said: “The Driftwood Sevens incident was kind of an ambush.
“We will formulate structures where even competing businesses can support rugby and reap the accruing marketing opportunities for their products without stepping on each others’ toes.”
The chairman said sponsors have helped improve the standard of rugby in Kenya.
By FEVERPITCH REPORTER, The Standard
