Eyeing football as an investment

By Gilbert Wandera

In the last decade, football headlines have been awash with news of rich businessmen splashing losts of money to take over clubs or buy some top players.

Congolese businessman Elly Kalekwa does not shy away from investing in Sofapaka players. Like any business, he is sure it will pay off handsomely. [Photos: Collins Kweyu/Standard]

This trend started in 2003 when Russian businessman Roman Abramovich bought English Premier League side Chelsea for Sh19.8 billion.

After scoring Chelsea, Abramovich splashed billions of shillings on a massive player purchase to bring glory to a team that had never won the English Premier League in its 50 years of existence.

One of the ‘purchased’ players, Ukrainian striker Andriy Shevchenko, cost the billionaire a tidy Sh3.9 billion.

Just a year later, his investment started paying off as Chelsea went on to win the English Premier League in the 2004-2005 season for the first time in five decades.

Remained elusive

Though winning the European Champions League has remained elusive for Chelsea, Abramovich continues to pour money into the club with the hope of bagging Europe’s most prestigious title.

Closer home, Congolese businessman Moise Katumbi has brought glory to the African continent with his club T P Mazembe, which two years ago became the first African team to reach the final of the Fifa Club World Cup.

Katumbi has spent billions of shillings to retain the best players and his least paid player takes home Sh400,000 a month, excluding allowances.

Katumbi is also the governor of the mineral-rich Katumbi Province and has spent a massive fortune to invest in the success of the club.

This fever is also catching up in Kenya where Congolese businessman Elly Kalekwa has brought about a similar trend of football management.

Kalekwa, who founded Kenya Premier League (KPL) side Sofapaka, which stands for Sote Kama Familia Kwa Pamoja Kuafikia Azimio, in 2004 has spent over Sh100 million to build the club into a formidable side not only in the country but also on the continent.

"When we started in 2004 in the Nationwide league we paid our players about Sh15,000 per month as salaries. I have always believed in taking care of our players because they are our most important resource," he explained.

This high salaries and welfare of the players paid off almost immediately for the club as they joined the top league four years later and made history by winning the KPL in their first attempt.

Qualifying for the KPL meant more resources for the club and Kalekwa has never been shy in spending money to net the best players, and also maintain them.

Before the entry of Sofapaka into the KPL, most players earned little locally, going home with about Sh15,000 per month and Sh200 in daily allowance.

Kalekwa changed all this and set a salary cap of Sh100,000 for his best paid player and Sh30,000 for the least paid player.

Other clubs were forced to follow suit as most good players opted to join Sofapaka.

Kalekwa believes the money he pays his players is an investment that will be recouped.

"I always look at football as big business and in every business you need to invest. The more you invest, the higher you will reap at the right time," he says.

Foreign clubs

Indeed the club has begun to recoup some of their investment. Some of their players have in the last one year attracted the interests of foreign clubs.

Midfielder Humphrey Mieno is on the radar of Tunisian giants Club African while defender James Situma concluded his Sh7 million move to Albania club FK Tirana.

Congolese striker Bob Mugalia has a Sh50 million price tag on his head and is expected to travel to Europe next month for trials.

"I believe that our investment in players will be recouped when we sell them to foreign clubs. My experience has shown there is plenty of talent here just waiting for someone to expose it," he said.

On average, the club spends Sh54 million a year. Sh30 million comes from sponsors East Africa Portland Cement. The rest is shouldered by the Congolese businessman.

Kalekwa says his personal donation to the team comes from his business interests in the transportation sector as well as betting.

"I have been in the transport business for a long time which has enabled me to give back to football. Iam not involved in politics or questionable business.

"My aim is to contribute to the Kenyan society by giving talented players an opportunity to earn from the same and get a better future for their families," he says.

Sofapaka’s aspiration is to win all the football accolades in the competitions that they feature in as well as run and manage football professionally.

The team’s core values are faith in God, innovativeness and discipline.

Some of the great players the club discovered include Bob Mugalia, a Congolese who took up Kenyan citizenship due to his football prowess.