The leading betting firm in East and Central Africa,and the first Kenyan Firm to sponsor an English Premier League team,has renewed sponsorship of Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards and the title sponsor of the Kenyan Premier League which will become SportPesa Premier League,Gor Mahia will get Sh198,607,000, AFC Sh156,406,403 and KPL Sh259,712,000.

Football Kenya Federation also entered a three-year partnership with the company, the goal being to improve the standards of local football in a deal totaling Sh69.4 million for three years.

The previous deal with Gor Mahia was for five years at more than Sh200 million while AFC’s was Sh45 million annually for five years.The much needed financial boost is very vital for a team like GorMahia which has recently qualified for the Africa Championship tournament group stage.

SportPesa CEO Ronald Karauri however noted that although they weren’t renewing the sponsorship for rugby,they remain that the company remains committed to supporting local sports despite the economic policy setbacks they have suffered.

In a new twist, the government says it has been involved in the signing of the new contracts with Sports Principal Secretary Peter Kaberia saying they will ensure that each party gets its fair share of value from the contract without disruption.

“We as a government decided we will participate in this procedure so that it will no longer be federations and financial groups going into agreements while we are on the outside. We want to be part of it and we want to be able to see what we can help with when the federations come to us for help after they sign the deals,” Kaberia said.

PS Kaberia also added that the Kenya government was ready to assist Gor Mahia in their CAF Confederations Cup campaign especially with the three away matches they have to play in Rwanda, Algeria and Tanzania.

“If they present to us the budget then we will look at it and we will consider giving help,” Kaberia said.

In 2017, the betting firm withdrew sponsorship for local sports clubs and unions due to the 35 per cent tax on revenue.