Lugogo based KCCA FC have unveiled bookmaker company 22Bet as the sponsors for the club’s player of the match and player of the month awards for the next one year.
On Thursday, the company which was in 2020 named as French side, PSG’s official online betting partner in Africa was unveiled as awards sponsors for the 13 time Uganda Premier League champions at a function held at Route 256 bar and restaurant in Kampala.
“We have opened another chapter for KCCA FC by partnering with 22Bet as sponsors for our man of the match and player of the month awards. We cannot disclose the value but the club is also getting something out of this partnership,” KCCA FC CEO, Anisha Muhoozi said.
She explained that the sponsorship deal will see the club put in place a committee that will choose the best players for every game in the StarTimes Uganda Premier League and Stanbic Uganda Cup that the Lugogo based side wins, both home and away.
“The committee will select names that will be shared on the club’s social media platforms for fans to vote for the player of the match who will be announced 24 hours later. The panel will also chose the contenders for the player of the month and names will be shared on the club’s social media platforms for fans to vote,”Muhoozi said.
The player of the match will receive cash shs100,000 and the player of the month will be walking away with shs200,000
KCCA Vice Chairperson Aggrey Ashaba said the club hopes the new sponsorship deal will bring a new form of motivation to the players .
22Bet director, Cedric Babu said having started operations in Uganda in 2021, the betting company’s hopes to reach greater heights but noted they have started with the KCCA FC awards sponsorship.
“We hope in the next couple of years, we can be involved in bigger sponsorship deals. This is the beginning of our relationship as we test the waters but we think the relationship will grow to become shirt sponsors or even spread to other sports disciplines,”Babu said.
KCCA FC vice-captain, Julius Poloto could not agree more with club vice chairperson on the sponsorship reinvigorating players.
“It is our obligation as players to win every game but this is another motivation for us to worker harder knowing that the best player on the day will walk home with something in their pockets,”Poloto, one of the longest serving players at the club said.
Match fixing fears
With the coming on board of a betting company as a sponsor for KCCA FC , many say this could also fuel fixing of matches but the club vice chairperson thinks otherwise.
“As a club, we have a policy towards betting. We also do monitoring of the players’ lifestyles to ensure they are not involved in match fixing. The betting industry in the country is highly regulated and the many measures put in place to stop match fixing.”
The sponsorship deal will run for one year with an option of another year of extension.
The development comes on the backdrop of the 13 time Uganda Premier League champions parting ways with SEE TV as their shirt sponsor.
