NAIROBI, Kenya, September 26- The tenth Sports Personality of the Year Awards (Soya) will be held on December 6 at a venue yet to be confirmed.
This was announced on Thursday in Nairobi by founder and chairman, Paul Tergat, who urged heads of various federations to put the interests of sportspersons first rather than indulging in endless wrangles.
The newly elected IOC Member says Kenya is among the greatest sporting nations in Africa and the world, and that image should not be tainted by disputes among top officials.
“I really want to see that we channel all our energy in terms of how we will come up with strategies to take our sports forward. Once we put our personal interests as managers first, then we are losing the focus why we were elected as people who are supposed to be in charge of sports.
“At a personal level, this is certainly a proud moment to experience the phenomenal achievements of Soya that started with very humble beginnings ten years ago,” the founder said while receiving a sponsorship package of Sh3m from National Bank of Kenya that will be channelled towards the event.
The ceremony will see an intense battle for honours following the various events held this year including the Worlds in Moscow, Russia, where Kenya finished fourth overall and first in Africa with 12 medals and the Africa Nations Cup women volleyball championships where the hosts won the continental crown.
Olympics champion and world men 800m record holder, David Rudisha, was crowned last year’s overall Soya winner.