Arsenal’s latest sponsorship deal takes hem to Kenya, which has a very large number of Gooners in their ranks. The Gunners have teamed up with SportPesa as the official betting partner in Kenya, and they will be joining together to offer club merchandise as well as tickets to go to the Emirates to see their favourite club in action.
Also they are going to be running training camps to help teach the Kenyans how to play the “Arsenal way” and they are ambitiously aiming to get a team good enough to reach the World Cup Finals. Ronald Karauri, SportPesa’s Chief Executive Officer, said: “SportPesa is dedicated to uplifting the football standards in Kenya, and we look working with Arsenal to help achieve this. It is a true testament to the commitment SportPesa has in putting player development at the forefront of any other need.
“We are committed to allocating the best resources and support to our players to help them achieve their dreams. Our aim is to see Kenya participate in the 2022 FIFA World Cup. We are also very excited for this partnership and are looking forward for greater revolution in the Kenyan football world.”
This is an extremely ambitious statement from them as the Kenyan national team has never ever qualified for the World Cup Finals. In fact they have never got past the first round of the African Nations Cup, and the last time that happened was in 2004! Arsenal’s Chief Commercial Officer, Vinai Venkatesham, said: “We are delighted to welcome SportPesa as our Official Betting Partner in Kenya. Arsenal has huge support across Africa and we look forward to engaging further with our fans in Kenya while also helping to drive the SportPesa business and, through a wide range of initiatives, the development of football in the country.”
Arsenal do a lot of these training schemes all over the world, and you never know it may be a brilliant way to discover up and coming young players. Perhaps we’ll spot the next Victor Wanyama? The Southampton midfielder is the only Kenyan playing in Europe I believe…