Puma partners with TPL

Tusker Premier League (TPL) will partner with Puma to provide balls in the league for the next four years at a tune of Sh10 million.

“Kenyan football is growing from the performance the national team showed against Bafana Bafana from South Africa in a friendly match. We are supporting the Kenya Premier League and we will work closely to make football in the country to grow,” said Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Chairman Sam Nyamweya.

“This is a good gesture by Puma to supply balls to the Tusker Premier League. We have been having problems with clubs who cannot afford balls,” Nyamweya said.

“We are also warning those people who are selling fake balls to stop the business. Clubs are suffering because the balls are of bad quality. We will be partnering with Nairobi Sports House to supply our merchandise,” added Nyamweya.

Speaking at a press briefing in a Nairobi Hotel, Tusker Premier League CEO, Jack Oguda, said using the same ball will make the broadcasting of live matches easier.

“This is a good move which will go a long way in making the broadcast crews’ work easier especially in the live matches,” said Oguda.

Nairobi Sports House Marketing Head Baadal Shah said they are looking forward to football growth.

Meanwhile, Nyamweya lauded Harambee Stars’ performance against South Africa, saying the team will be maintained and they support of the coach.

“Harambee Stars showed a good performance with the coach fielding local players. Cameroon, Angola and Zambia have sent requests for friendly matches and I hope this will be a good exposure for the team before we play against Nigeria in the World Cup qualifiers,” he said.

Elijah Onsika, a former national team player, also lauded the team’s performance, especially against a top side like South Africa, but Shabana FC founder Dogo Khan said Stars are losing too many matches.

“I was impressed with the way Harambee Stars contained South Africa’s Bafana Bafana,” said Onsika.

With more competitive international friendlies, Onsika said, Kenya would have more confidence in the team.

“I ask the national coach to go further to scout for players in the Division One and provincial leagues,” said Onsika.

He said the players needed more time to be together and urged FKF to facilitate the movement of the national coach to all corners of the country to scout for new players for the team.

But Khan thought Kenya should have beaten South Africa or forced a draw, “given that they were playing on familiar conditions at home.”