Coronavirus has affected sports globally by keeping fans away from stadiums and locally, National Super League (NSL) football team Shabana FC is also feeling the effect the global pandemic.
The suspension of all football league matches a month ago by Football Kenya Federation (FKF) in a bid to stop the spread of coronavirus has also meant that the club has missed out on money from gate collection which the team uses to run its activities.
Last month, FKF directed that all football league matches be cancelled after the first confirmed case of Covid-19 was reported in Kenya.
In a statement sent to newsrooms on March 13, FKF said: “Following the confirmation of the first confirmed case of coronavirus in Kenya, Football Kenya Federation has suspended FKF grassroots football competitions and women leagues, including the Kenya Women Premier League and Women Division One League.”
The statement further said that all Kenyan Premier League, National Super League, and FKF Cup fixtures were to be suspended indefinitely from Monday, March 16, 2020.
Since then, Shabana has been one of the most affected teams because the club depends entirely on gate collections to operate because it has no sponsor.
The club’s vice chairperson, Yabesh Nyandoro, Monday said the team was unable to pay players and the technical bench “because we have exhausted all our resources.”
“It’s unfortunate that players and the technical bench have not received salaries for February and March. We are aware that a majority of them are unable to pay rent and other bills but for now there is nothing we can do about it,” said the official.
According to Nyandoro, the club parts with more than 1.2m per month in salaries and other allowances. While expressing fear that the club may loss some of its players if the situation persists, Nyandoro appealed to the two county governments in Gusii region (Kisii and Nyamira) to step in and support the community club.
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