Football gambling; A love for the sport or money?

"Timu moja tu iliniwaste" (only one team wasted my bet) has become a common saying among football fans and gamblers. The term Sportpesa has become a household name among many Kenyans since its interception into the country and its effect has taken hold of Kenyans of all ages and genders.

The interests of Kenyans in football have increased tremendously spreading all over the country.  Nowadays even working class people have indulged into sports betting, including managers and Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of major companies trying their lack in the weekly jackpot of millions; their motivation being driven by many people winning the cash for instance, a public relations officer in a popular bank tweeted his complaint to a betting site using the twitter handle of the company.

Well, what I don't understand is whether this significant interest in sports among Kenyans is driven by their love for the sport or for the money. Are they just gamblers or they are ‘fanblers'? Is the interest of many Kenyans in newspaper football pages and online league tables, performances and history of clubs locally being driven by them being football fans or it is just a matter of gambling and money?

The numerous betting sites in the country have spurred a countrywide growth of interests in football on a grand scale. These are people who earlier on could not tell an English Premier League team and the position it holds on the league table, but now can describe how they have played in their last three matches and the statistics of certain teams in the popular league. Nowadays it is not a surprise that someone who knew nothing about football yesterday sighs under his or her breath while watching every single move of the players on a television screen at a local pub.

Kenyans are not only reading about the footie in the run up to crucial league matches both locally and abroad, they are now aware of teams such as Groningen, Nijmegen, Zurich Grasshopper, Frosinone, Botafogo and many more teams and the leagues they are playing. Kenyans will give you updates on when and what time the teams in Vietnam and Guatemala are playing, who is leading the log and how the two teams have played in their last five matches.

The weekly jackpot as well as the daily prize money that come via an SMS notification within minutes of the final whistle of a match in Maputo, Manchester, Monaco, Milan, Maritzburg, Tehran, Turin, Sao Paulo, Perth and Punta Arenas have been the order of the day, people winning hundreds and losing thousands. They however do not give up on that loss of Sh500 since they saw a lady in Kakamega pocketing 22 million from the same gambling site.

With Sportpesa being the leading household name, together with other football betting platforms such as Betin, Betway, Elitebet, mCheza among others, betting unions are springing up all over the country. Whatsapp groups and Facebook pages focused on discussing football bets and getting the best odds to win the jackpot has become mundane on social media sites. Some claim to have fixed matches that will guarantee a sure win.

Fans are thronging football pubs and livescore sites following the progress of a game. University students are no longer concentrating on their studies on the contrary, they are calculating the possible odds while the lecturer is teaching in class. Workers are not left out, checking their phones every couple of minutes confirming their bets and placing possible odds. Is this person a football fan or just a gambler? Is he groaning because his team lost or because he lost a bet?

Betting has ruined the beauty of football to the extent of celebrating when a rival team scores, not because he favours the score but because of the money. Within time, this sports gambling will ruin household economies. This is because cash won on gambling can never be enough and therefore there is no guaranteed option of success in football gambling.