The 2006 Kenyan Premier League champions Sony Sugar will bite the bullet, disband the team and begin life in the National Super League should they fail to get funds to honour their next match.
Sony have dished two walkovers, against AFC Leopards and Tusker, and they are bound to relinquish their place in the top flight if they miss the clash against debutants Kisumu All-Stars this weekend.
Sony and Chemelil Sugar, who were a no-show over the weekend in a scheduled clash against Bandari at Mbaraki Sports, are the teams severely affected by the ongoing cash-crunch.
The sugar-millers have unreservedly aired their financial struggles and are part of the six teams petitioning for the suspension of the league to pave way for their marketing departments to source for new title sponsors.
Sony had reportedly nailed down a Hong Kong-based Information Technology Company, Quantdragon, as their shirt sponsor in August but as things stands, a deal never materialised.
The club says they have no choice other than releasing their players and seek to start life in the second tier next season should they fail to get a solution in the course of the week.
“We will have to accept fate and make the decision, however tough it is. The company has been struggling hence can not bankroll the club. We had attracted a sponsor at the start of the season but he left without wiring a cent to our accounts, the genesis to our tribulations. If we do not get a sponsor in the course of the week, we will proceed to release the players and assemble others in preparation for life in the NSL,” said club chairman Gabriel Otiende.
Otiende, meanwhile, singled out the current Football Kenya Federation regime for watering down the progress the league had made by increasing the composition of the league by two teams to 18.
In the decision, Sports Disputes Tribunal directed that the league teams be increased from 16-18, a fall-out which saw the then sponsors, Supersport, whose deal was until 2021, exit the scene.
“I was part of the team which negotiated the Supersport deal in South Africa. The current FKF regime chased them away by introducing two teams in the league contrary to the terms we had signed for with Supersport,” said Otiende. “They pledged to cater for the two teams and four years down the line, nothing has happened. The league standards dwindled after their exit which we squarely blame on FKF.”
