Football in Kenya is not valued as compared to European nations, where most footballers who play at the top leagues are millionaires. However for the footballers who play in the FKF premier league, which is the Kenyan premier league, really struggle financially and it is because of several reasons, which both the Kenyan citizens can easily solve and also the national government. It is evident that a good number of Kenyan premier league players struggle financially, and after retire; many of them end up living a miserable life. There are many superstars in Kenya, who were heroes in football back then, but currently they are living a very broke life, and the government has done nothing about that.
Here are the reasons why most of Kenyan footballers struggle financially
1.Lack of Financial Education
It is important for everyone to have proper financial management skills, a good number of Kenyan footballers, don’t practice saving culture. With the little money they earn. Some just opt to go party, and live a very expensive lifestyle without planning for tomorrow. Hence when they retire from football, or get an injury that force them to retire, they find out that they have been left with nothing in the banks, hence they end up living a very miserable life. This is especially for the footballers who play the local Kenyan premier league.
- Poor Payment
The salaries the Kenyan footballers receive are very heartbreaking, in fact the highest player in the premier league is said to be earning about ksh. 100,000 per month . Majority of footballer earn between ksh. 10,000 to 30,000 per month. This money can’t sustain their life. There are also footballs clubs, whose players go for several months without salaries, the clubs struggle to pay them, and this makes it difficult for some of them to have even money to save and invest. The challenges of paying players is common because most football clubs lack sponsors.
- Corruption and Government
This is another factor that is indeed the mother of all the challenges that Kenyan Premier League players face. The government is full of corrupt individuals who devour the money directed to support footballers and their teams. In fact, football clubs rarely receive funding from the government, yet in the budget, you will find there is money set aside to support the clubs. There are also some rules, that have been placed by the national government that scare away investors. This means that companies that are willing to sponsor football clubs are forced to withdraw their sponsorship due to harsh government rules, especially on taxation. Sportpesa, betin and betway are among the big companies that withdrew their sponsorship due to harsh government rules. Due to that, there is not enough money to pay this player, hence most of them end up being broke.
Those are the key reasons why most Kenyan footballers are broke financially, and even after retiring from football, they end up living a very miserable life.
Read more about Behind the Medals: Why Kenya Thrives in Athletics But Football Struggles.
