Harambee Stars will battle it out with Athletics Kenya, KSSSA in the 2018 Safaricom SOYA Awards to be hosted in Mombasa. Photo/RAYMOND MAKHAYA
NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 8 – A Harambee Stars player who will make the squad from their start of their camp in France to the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) final tournament in Cairo, Egypt will stand to take back home at least Sh750,000 in basic allowances.
Well this amount might be more, considering there are separate bonuses for each player and member of the technical bench for every win or draw at the tournament which will attract an extra Sh250,000.
Football Kenya Federation (FKF) boss Nick Mwendwa says they have set elaborate plans to ensure that the players are well catered for, and the ball will be in their court, literally, to ensure they perform well in their first Cup of Nations since 2004.
“I want us to develop a culture where we have a financial plan and go ahead to actualize it. We want to stop talking about money issues every time because it spoils everything. We have made an agreement with the players and we will actualize it,” Mwendwa said on Monday morning.
Harambee Stars captain Victor Wanyama says he was excited with the full to capacity stadium in kasarani when Kenya played Ethiopia in a 2019 African Cup of Nations Qualifier on October 14, 2018. PHOTO/Timothy Olobulu
The squad of 26 which will head to France from May 27- June 16 for the training camp will each be entitled to Sh250,000 in allowances while a further Sh500,000 will be paid to the squad of 23 which will be in Cairo for the tournament.
This money for paying allowances will be drawn with the Sh219mn budget already forwarded to the Federation’s account for the Cup of Nations campaign, but Mwendwa says they will have to get some money elsewhere for paying winning bonuses.
The Federation chief confirmed that the ministry has sent in the money and plans will now be made to ensure all relevant plans, including the proposed training camp in France, are paid for.
Nonetheless, the first item on the budgetary allocations will be the Sh50mn promised to the players by Deputy President William Ruto for qualification which has been included in the Sh219mn budget.
“We made an agreement with the players that they will get Sh38mn from that budget and in the next two or three days we will move to see this happening. We have a contract with the players on the amount of money each player will get depending on the minutes he has played in the campaign,” Mwendwa explained.
With money issues now sorted, the players have a tough task of ensuring they perform on the pitch.
Football Kenya Federation boss Nick Mwendwa with officials from Spalsh World, Betin Kenya and Percap Technologies
Meanwhile, the Federation has partnered with travel agency Splash World to offer fans a travel package to attend the group stage matches in Cairo.
For Sh350,000 only, a fan will get a package that includes a four-star hotel two-meal-a-day package for six nights and seven days as well as tickets for the three group matches, air tickets and visas.
At the same time, the Federation and their official national team partners Betin will conduct a raffle that will see six fans win tickets to the Cup of Nations on fully paid basis with a million shillings also up for grabs in the raffle.
To start, anyone willing to take part in a raffle is expected to spend a minimum Sh50.
You are required to send the word ‘START’ to 29881 then you will receive welcome message that has terms and conditions. After that you will be required to deposit at least Sh50 and above to the PayBill number 881881 and once confirmed, a series of five questions will be sent to your phone.
Each question costs Sh10 and you can play as many questions as you want, depending on your deposit.
There will be daily winners of Sh5,000 and to be eligible to play the draw, you are required to have at least 500 points; every question answered earns you 100 points.
