Kenya Tourism Board donated Sh20 million towards the World Under-18 Championships slated for July 12-16 at the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani.
The funds will cater for the hosting expenses of the event, which has attracted over 2000 athletes from different nations around the world.
While signing their partnership with KTB, the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) chief executive officer Mwangi Muthee, expressed their gratitude to the board for the gesture of promoting the sporting activities in the country and beyond.
Muthee further said preparations for the events are underway amid positive progress. He said: “We are proud to be in partnership with the Kenya Tourism Board. The World U18 Championships are a great opportunity for us to honour our youth and promote the best of Kenya. Preparations are in high gear and I would like to urge all Kenyans to turn up in high numbers during the event and support our athletes,” said Muthee.
He further thanked the government for the support, adding that the progress witnessed so far has been realised through its support.
KTB chief executive officer, Dr. Betty Radier, who handed the Sh20m cheque to Muthee, said the board is committed to supporting the growth of talent and acknowledging the athletes who have put the nation on the world’s map.
She said: “The IAAF World U18 Championships will afford Kenya the opportunity to host more than 2,000 athletes from more than 130 countries around the world. We see this as an opportunity to cast a spotlight on the best our country can offer to a global audience as Kenya will have the privilege of hosting more than 300 local and international media. We will, therefore, seize this moment to prime Kenya as a sports destination. As a board, we acknowledge the spot our athletes have put us in as far as athletics is concerned.”
Radier also made it clear that the board will be sponsoring other sporting events among them rugby and cricket. “We have been sponsoring golf played in India and other International marathons like the New York, Berlin and Boston but we will shift to local marathons as a way of promoting our own.”
Kenya is the second country in Africa to be accorded the opportunity to host the event. During the first event, held in Bydgoszcz, Poland in 1999, Kenya displayed an extra sterling performance and topped the medal standings. In 2014, Kenya placed and won the bid to host 2017 IAAF World Under 18 Championships with the defining slogan and proposition statement: “Home of Champions”.