NAIROBI, Kenya, Dec 13 – Sports Cabinet Secretary Ababu Namwamba has offered the biggest ray of hope that South African broadcasters Supersport will return to the country, five years since they closed their shutters to broadcasting the FKF Premier League.
Multichoice CEO Fhulu Badugela was in the country this weekend and was a guest of the State during the 59th Mashujaa Celebrations, and also held meetings with Namwamba later, after watching the match between AFC Leopards and Sofapaka at the Nyayo Stadium.
Her presence, and subsequent meetings with the new CS, who has continuously insisted his desire for the company’s return to Kenya, offers hope that Kenyan football will be back on TV soon.
“I am never in the business of making idle statements and empty promises. When I mentioned Supersport I knew exact what I am talking about and conversations have been going on,” Namwamba said.
Namwamba added; “I have made progress with my discussions with Supersport. I invited Multichoice to Nairobi and I did a substative meeting with the CEO and we have made good progress to get them back into Kenyan sports.”
The company’s return to Kenyan football will be a massive breath of fresh air especially looking back at the success that was witnessed when they were the league’s broadcast partners.
Teams which were financially unable to meet most of their obligations were handed a shot in the arm with the monthly grants while many players were also spotted and scouted to various leagues outside the country.
The company however announced their departure in 2017 at a time when there was a battle to increase the number of teams in the top flight from then 16 to 18, a move which they had objected.
Since, then, the league has had MediaPro broadcasting the league for three seasons on a pro-bono initiative, with the signal only shared within local stations.
Last season, Chinese company StarTimes broadcasted the league, but walked away from their initial seven-year contract as soon as the Federation was disbanded by former CS Amina Mohamed.
While in kenya, Supersport not only did football but were also involved with athletics, rugby and basketball. Their return would be a massive boost for Kenyan sports especially looking at their broadcast reach in Sub-Saharan Africa.
