I didn’t chase away SuperSport, says FKF boss
Football Kenya Federation (FKF) president Nick Mwendwa insists he should not be blamed for SuperSport’s exit on the Kenyan football market.
The South-African owned Pay-TV channel pulled the plug on broadcasting Kenyan Premier League matches in 2017 in a deal worth hundreds of millions of shillings every year.
The exit was pegged on the court case and wrangling between FKF and the Kenya Premier League (KPL) management, chiefly revolving on whether the top-flight football competition should consist of 16 or 18 teams.
But Mwendwa, speaking during an interview on Citizen TV on Monday, said SuperSport left Kenya so as to concentrate on something else.
“I did not chase away SuperSport. We know SuperSport also left other markets (countries where they were showing league matches) like Nigeria and Angola. They needed to save money so as to buy the rights for the English Premier League which were very expensive at the time,” Mwendwa explained.
“I have been blamed for this and so much more. But you know football has a political side and that’s why,” he further said.
The Kenyan Premier League is yet to get another broadcaster to replace Supersport even though an arrangement with Spain based Media Pro produces league matches and sells the content.