Racing Point F1 title sponsor SportPesa clarified that their partnership with the team is unaffected by the decision taken in Kenya.
The ongoing troubles with the African regulatory body for Kenyan betting company, SportPesa, has forced them to cancel all their sponsorship deals based in Africa, especially Kenya.
The company released a statement which read as: “SportPesa as a business has been subjected to punitive measures by regulators such as delayed license renewal and the suspension of paybill numbers with these actions considerably reducing the level of business operations.
“This has brought about immense pressure on the business necessitating a reevaluation of some plans. We regrettably wish to announce that due to the uncertainty of this situation SportPesa will be cancelling sports sponsorships effective immediately.
“All clubs and partners will have received notices as provided for in their contracts. Sportpesa is passionate about sports development in the country and this decision was regrettably arrived at haltingly and after a lot of deliberation and thought.
“We greatly value our partnerships and we will endeavour to resume support to the best of our ability when the business recovers. We have always been compliant with all the Statutory and Regulatory requirements. We are a law-abiding organisation.
“For now, we remain positive that the current situation will be resolved amicably and urgently, and we continue to seek the goodwill of all actors towards normalising the environment for the gaming industry.”
The slightly incomplete statement raised some eyebrows as the company is involved both in football as well as F1 globally as they sponsor English Premier League’s Everton FC and racing team, Racing Point.
In fact, with the latter, it is their title sponsor as the team name reads as ‘SportPesa Racing Point F1 Team’. Looking for a clarification, FormulaRapida.net got a confirmation on its deals outside Kenya.
SportPesa clarified that the deals with Everton and Racing Point is done through SportPesa UK, which is a separate entity. When asked about the F1 team, it stated: “Racing point won’t be affected in any way reason being it is sponsored directly by SportPesa UK.”
For now, it looks like the business remains unaffected outside Kenya, especially in the United Kingdom. It is understood that Racing Point is also not too concerned by the ongoing matter with the parent company.
It remains to be seen how the company goes ahead and clears the issues being faced in Africa as it frantically responds to its consumers. On F1 side, this is the latest sponsor related issue amid the Haas-Rich Energy saga.
More to come
