Boxing Federation of Kenya has extolled a move by the government to offer tax exemption to individuals or companies seeking to sponsor sporting activities in the country.
BFK communications director, Dancun 'Sugar Ray' Kuria welcomed the idea, saying it will attract more sponsors into the country and ease off financial burdens on local federations and clubs.
“Many clubs participating in local sports leagues and competitions experience financial difficulties. Football is affected the most given a good number of clubs are not in a position to pay salaries,” Kuria said.
“It's impractical to expect players who have gone for close to six months without a salary to register any meaningful results.
“That's because the environment is not conducive enough for optimum performance,” said Kuria.
“What the CS needs to do now is to spread the news far and wide so that we can have more sponsors coming on board,” he added.
On Friday, Cabinet Secretary for Sports Amina Mohamed asked individuals or companies seeking to benefit from the exemption to seek clearance from the Ministry of Sports.
Other than disclosing the value of the sponsorship, the respective entities must also ensure athletes are the main beneficiaries of their allocations.
A significant number of local sports associations have taken flak lately for suspected misappropriation of funds.
Upon application, approval by the Ministry of Sports will be communicated in writing to the Commissioner-General, Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA).
“In view of the above, any person sponsoring sports activities must seek prior approval from the Cabinet Secretary responsible for sports on the amount he intends to spend to sponsor sports activities,” said CS Amina in the statement.
“This office shall henceforth consider and approve such budgets in line with the above steps. I encourage all sponsors and partners to ensure most of the allocations are athlete-centered,” Amina wrote.
