Novak Djokovic, the world number one men’s tennis player, sparked a furious reaction in Australia after announcing he had been given a vaccine exemption to play in the Australian Open later this month.
Now the 34-year-old Serbian star finds himself detained in an Australian immigration hotel fighting deportation, after having his visa revoked on his arrival in Melbourne and entry to the country denied.
What was meant to be the start to another Grand Slam campaign has escalated into a diplomatic storm.
Here’s how it has played out so far and what may happen next.
Why did Djokovic think he could enter Australia?
News that Djokovic had been approved to play in the Australian Open, which begins 17 January, was revealed by the player himself on Tuesday.
Australia requires all foreign visitors entering the country to be double vaccinated. Otherwise, they need to complete 14 days in quarantine. But Djokovic, who has said he is opposed to vaccination, said on social media he had gained a medical exemption.
Tennis Australia, the sporting body which runs the Australian Open, confirmed the top seed had been granted medical exemption by two independent medical panels organised by Tennis Australia and Victoria state.
Valid reasons for exemptions include an acute medical condition such as an inflammatory cardiac illness. A Covid-19 infection in the past six months also counted under the policy, which was announced in December and endorsed by the Victorian state government.
Federal authorities back then had no objection.
IMAGE SOURCE, EPA
Image caption,
Djokovic’s supporters have gathered outside the Melbourne hotel where he’s rumoured to be temporarily held
How did the Australian public react?
Australians were angered by the decision to grant Djokovic an exemption, which led to a change in Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s position.
Djokovic, who has previously expressed anti-vaccination sentiments, has been a polarising figure during the pandemic. In 2020, he apologised after staging a commercial tennis tour where he and other tennis players contracted Covid-19.
In Australia, meanwhile, locals have lived through months of lockdown and restrictions. Most have followed government directions to get vaccinated, and over 90% of the adult population is now double-dosed.
Initially, Mr Morrison had said he accepted the Victorian government’s decision to grant Djokovic and other tennis players medical exemptions. On Tuesday, he said federal authorities, who control the borders, would “act in accordance” with the state’s decision as “that’s how it works”.
But amid the public outrage, by Wednesday he had backflipped. Mr Morrison warned that Djokovic would be sent home if he failed to provide proper medical proof for his exemption.
Some have accused Mr Morrison of politicising the issue. The prime minister himself is under pressure amid the Covid-19 surge, and all of this is happening months before a federal election scheduled for May.
Why was Djokovic turned away at the airport?
Djokovic landed at Melbourne Airport at about 23:30 on Wednesday local time (12:30 GMT). He was promptly assessed and rejected for entry. His visa was cancelled on the spot and he was taken into temporary immigration detention.
The tennis player had failed to provide evidence he was double vaccinated, or had a legitimate exemption to that, Mr Morrison said. He also explained that a recent Covid-19 infection, or one in the past six months, was not a valid reason under federal rules.
Djokovic was taken away by Australian Border Force (ABF) officials to an immigration holding hotel, where he is now awaiting a decision on his fate. The rest of his team was allowed to enter Australia because their vaccination status was approved, Australian media reported.
What happens next?
Djokovic’s camp is furious about the sudden about-turn, and say he has being made an example of. Plus, there are three other unknown tennis players with exemptions who have been let into the country, according to Australian media.
The player launched an appeal against his visa cancellation immediately after he was held.
A hearing at the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia has been scheduled for Monday, so he can stay in the country at least until then. It is not yet clear whether he will spend the next few days in the government detention hotel.
Where does it leave his plans of playing in the Australian Open?
Djokovic, a nine-time Australian Open winner, has not yet commented on his ordeal.
It is still not clear whether he would still play in the event, even if he is allowed to stay.
What is the background to this?
While Tennis Australia had granted Djokovic approval under a policy endorsed by Victoria state, the same policy had not been approved by Canberra.
So it is clear that the federal government has overruled the state in this case. Australia is a federation but its constitution allocates border control to Canberra, not state authorities.
On Thursday, Mr Morrison said the ABF had sent letters to Tennis Australia back in November outlining federal conditions for vaccinated entry.
He also said it was not uncommon for people to be turned away upon landing in Australia, because immigration officials assess visa compliance upon arrival rather than prior to entry.
Meanwhile, Serbia has rallied round their national champion, with President Aleksander Vucic accusing Australian authorities of “harassing” Djokovic. Canberra has denied that claim.
National Super League risks stalling again following complaints by clubs over the running of affairs by the Football Kenya Federation caretaker committee.
The clubs are asking the committee to suspend the league for at least three weeks so that proper normalisation can come into place.
There are complaints ranging from officiating, logistical support failure and lack of player cards, among other issues, with the committee being put on the spot over its failure to share match statistics including standings or suspensions creating confusion.
Leading the charge are Murang’a Seal FC who Monday sent an email to the committee secretariat chief executive Lindah Ogutu regarding clarifications and the way forward to forestall a crisis.
The committee’s head of competitions Ali Nour recently addressed issues of management and planning, saying they are looking at ways of resolving bottlenecks going forward.
The email from Murang’a Seal reads in part: “We would like to bring to your attention that a majority of the NSL teams have resolved to have the league put on hold for at least three weeks for the following reasons, amongst others: Some teams do not have player cards and therefore it is possible that ineligible players are being fielded; You have not been supplying match statistics to the teams therefore we have no knowledge of suspended or all cautioned players.”’
Incredibly difficult
The email went further: “Teams are undergoing financial difficulties and you have not remitted the money that you promised; Referees have not been paid so far which leaves room for compromise of officiating; We are not aware of who is appointing referees and the criteria of appointment;
We have not elected any officials of NSL and majority of teams believe that impostors masquerading as NSL officials are not giving you the true facts.
We are therefore requesting that the League is called off for at least three weeks to enable these concerns to be addressed.
APS Bomet chairperson Rose Chemutai she is aware of concerns raised by the clubs and asked for quick resolution of the challenges to avert a further crisi.
“We are basically on the same page with the issues and so we want a solution fast.
I am aware that most club bosses in the National Super League had written a memorandum and so we are awaiting full communication from the caretaker committee because so far, it has been incredibly difficult for the teams.”
Barcelona’s Argentine forward Sergio Aguero on Wednesday announced his retirement from football due to a heart condition.
“I decided to stop playing professional football. It is a very difficult moment. The decision I made, I have taken it for my health,” Aguero told a news conference in tears at the Camp Nou.
He added that he did everything possible to have some hope but made this decision one week ago.
Aguero, 33, was taken to a hospital for cardiological tests after complaining of chest pain during a Spanish La Liga match against Alaves on Oct. 30.
In November, Barcelona said Aguero would be unavailable for at least three months after the tests.
It was reported that Aguero faced cardiac arrhythmia.
His former clubs wish best for Aguero
Ageuro’s former clubs Manchester City and Atletico Madrid wished him all the best following his retirement decision.
Aguero started his professional career in Argentina’s Independiente, then he moved to Spain in 2006 to play for Atletico Madrid.
He won the 2010 UEFA Europa League title with Atletico Madrid.
“Thanks for the memories, Sergio. We wish you all the best,” the La Liga club said on Twitter.
Aguero joined Manchester City in 2011, becoming the club’s all-time leading goal scorer with 260 goals in 390 matches.
“Everyone at Manchester City would like to wish Sergio all the best in his retirement and to thank him once more for the incredible contribution he made to our football club during his ten years here,” English Premier League side Manchester City said in a statement.
He won 15 trophies, including five Premier League titles, one FA Cup, six League Cups for Manchester City.
A controversial foreign businessman with major investments in Kenya has become the latest globally recognized figure to be hit by heavy scamming allegations.
Disgruntled investors have come out to accuse Wazito FC owner Ricardo Badoer of defrauding them billions of shillings through his cryptocurrency exchange platform known as Aidos Kuneen.
The victims additionally claim that after constantly bugging him with questions regarding their funds, Badoer blocked all communication channels that lead to his access and that of the company.
“Most of the investors are Japanese. He has withheld their assets and blocks anyone on Twitter or Aidos Market Telegram who asks about their money,” the source told a local tabloid.
The firm is also the headline sponsor of his football club that plays in the Kenyan Premier League.
A cryptocurrency exchange platform like Aidos Market is an online marketplace where users buy, sell, and trade cryptocurrency. A cryptocurrency exchange works similar to an online brokerage, as users can deposit fiat currency (such as U.S. dollars), and use those funds to purchase cryptocurrency.
“In this case, it is like a bank denying customer withdrawals for fear of client panic withdrawals similar to what happened to Chase bank or almost with Family Bank some time back,” the anonymous source further reveals.
The frustrated investors are now seeking the intervention of the Central Bank of Kenya as well as Sumac Microfinance Bank where he holds a substantial shareholding.
They hope that raising the alarm will lead to sanctions against Badoer.
As of the publishing of this post, Badoer’s crypto market announced an unprecedented suspension of activities.
In a statement published on Twitter, Aidos Kuneen apologized for taking the network down and claimed it was due to an ongoing migration plan.
“Due to potential security bug found in the old Address format, we need to take the network down for a few days to work on the migration plan to the new format,” they wrote.
This man Ricardo Badoer
Badoer become a celebrity in Kenyan football when he took over Wazito FC in 2018 and quickly began galvanizing the club to win the Kenya Super League and return to the top-flight Kenya Premier League.
Beyond his Twitter wars with fans and haters spiced with his flamboyance, many Kenyans barely understood the man who has changed the little-known team from just another team to one of the most-watched sides in the league.
From his many published interviews, Badoer claims he started his first business at just the age of 20, where he renovated homes with his friend.
He later moved to Spain where he worked as a property agent.
Within no time, he had made enough money from selling refurbished properties and later grew his trade into a full-fledged construction company named “Badoer Invest”.
Between 2001 and 2008, during the Spanish economic boom, Badoer Invest built and sold properties in southern Spain, making Badoer a multi-millionaire at the age of 25.
In 2003 he founded a firm named Caixa Rico in Panama as a financial services provider and used it as a vehicle to invest in the financial market.
Caixa Rico Used Webmoney (an online payment settlement system) to avoid high Banking fees.
It was Webmoney that is said to have sparked his interest in digital currency.
When Bitcoin was launched in 2009, Badoer started using it in his company for settling transfers.
He started trading Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as a hobby until 2017 when he eventually founded his own Digital currency and named it Aidos Kuneen (ADK).
This was around the same time he brought some of his investments into Kenyan football.
Before the emergence of the scamming allegations, ADK was trading on 12 different exchanges which could explain the massive number of clients it attracted.
Very little is known about Ricardo’s rather private personal life.
He is married with three children and a registered resident of the UAE with several homes in Dubai as well as Spain.
Badoer being infamous for his flamboyance is a rather obvious fact.
He fancies designer clothes, with Gucci and Versace his favourite labels.
He also loves his cigar.
On his official Twitter account, he describes himself as an entrepreneur, cigar and timepiece aficionado.
Although several media outlets have reported that Badoer is a dollar billionaire, there are no documents in the public domain to support these claims.
But one thing that is for sure is that this is a man with very deep pockets, thanks to his business acumen.
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All eyes will be on red-hot forward Mo Salah when Liverpool host Atletico Madrid in the Champions League this season.
The Egyptian wizard has cemented his place as one of the greatest players in Europe, having scored already scored 15 goals in as many games this season.
He will be looking to add to his five in the Champions when Spanish side Atletico visits Anfield. Salah needs to grab headlines quickly especially after the heroics of rivals Cristiano Ronaldo and Robert Lewandowski. Ronaldo scored a brace to salvage a draw for Manchester United against Atalanta while Lewandowki grabbed headlines with a hat-trick in a 5-2 victory against Benfica.
Punters looking to invest their money should seriously consider staking on Salah to score first in the match. Triple5bet have this outcome at 4.78 odds which is really lucrative considering the fact that he opened the scoring within eight minutes in this reverse fixture.
Salah’s goalscoring form and considering the fact that he is also on penalty duties makes this outcome very possible.
Liverpool are the only team in Europe’s top 5 leagues who have not lost a match so far. Bookmakers expect the reds to extend their stellar form with a win against Diego Simeone’s men. Therefore, a home win in this fixture should be straight and at 1.72 odds on Triple5bet, a really good option for punters.
Other Champions League Fixtures on Wednesday are:
Sporting CP VS Besiktas – Kick Off 2045
Sherrif Tiraspol vs Inter Milan – Kick Off 2045
Dortmund vs Ajax – Kick off 23000
Manchester City vs Club Brugge – Kick Off 2300
RB Leipzig Vs PSG – Kick Off 2300
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The penultimate Champions League match day is here starting with some scintillating games on Tuesday.
Former European powerhouses Manchester United and Barcelona face tricky away games tonight, and any misstep could see Cristiano Ronaldo, who has won five Champions League titles, play in the Europa League for the first time in his career.
Ronaldo scored a late winner when the Red Devils beat Atalanta3-2 at Old Trafford. However, the game could have been beyond reach for Reds were it not for David De Gea’s heroics and Atalanta’s wastefulness in front of goal.
It will be a totally different story when Atalanta host Ole Gunnar’s men on Tuesday evening. Atalanta have quite a remarkable record this season, having only lost twice in front of their own fans. They need points if they are to qualify for the next round.
That coupled with the fact that United have lost seven of their last 12 Champions League matches makes this a very tricky tie.
Our pundits are predicting a home win in this fixture. Triple5bet have placed an Atalanta win at 3.04 odds, which I must say is very high considering Manchester United’s recent woes.
Spanish giants Barcelona are even in a worst possible shape ahead of a trip to Ukranian side Dynamo Kiev. Barca are currently third on the log and out of the qualifying spots for the next round. They need to beat Kiev and hope that Bayern beats Benfica.
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The club was forced to fire Dutchman Ronald Koeman last week but even that did not inspire immediate change of form as they were held to a draw by minnows Alaves.
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Men’s marathon world record holder Eliud Kipchoge has been awarded best male athlete of Tokyo 2020 Olympics during the Association of National Olympic Committees, ANOC, Awards Gala at in Crete, Greece.
Eliud has been awarded for his marathon gold medal at the postponed Games that were held in Tokyo, Japan July-August 2021.
He successfully defended the gold medal he won in Rio Da Janeiro,Brazil during the 2016 Olympics.
Eliud was awarded by the president of Association of National Olympics Committee of Africa, Mr. Mustapha Berraf at the Open Air Theatre of the Creta Maris Beach Hotel.
Other awardees were;
Best Female Athlete of Tokyo 2020 – Canadian Maggie Mac Neil
Football Kenya Federation President Nick Mwendwa has lost his attempt to stop arrest and prosecution over misappropriation of funds at Kandanda House after the High Court dismissed a petition he had filled to gag the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) and the Direction of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
Mwendwa had on 1st October, 2020 through lawyer Tom Ojienda sued DCI and DPP alongside Journalists Milton Nyakundi, who had filed a complaint with the Banking Fraud Investigation unit of DCI, seeking the court to find that Nyakundi had no locus to complain over FKF matters since he was not a member of the football governing body.
However, Justice James Makau dismissed the petition saying it lacked merit and was premature and speculative.
“I therefore find the petitioners’ prayers for an order of a permanent injunction prohibiting the DCI and DPP summoning, investigating, charging or prosecuting the petitioners with respect to financial management of FKF is not Justified in the circumstances of this case,” declared Justice Makau.
Nyakundi had petitioned the BFIU and Ethics and Anti-corruption Commission to investigate fictitious transactions at Kandanda House, including direct transfer of funds from the federation’s to Mwendwa’s personal accounts.
In his submission during the hearing, the FKF boss had urged that the summons by the DCI amounted to a violation of his fundamental rights as enshrined in the Constitution and the procedure to summoning him for statement recording had contravened the Fair Administrative Action Act.
He had also maintained that acting in Nyakundi’s complaint was inappropriate for the reason that he was not a members of the FKF and that all financial translations had been given a clean bill of health through the federation’s internal audit system.
Nyakundi argued that he had the right to move to court to seek recourse because FKF receives million of money from the public coffers and therefore accountability of such funds must be subjected to public finance management laws and regulations.
The DCI and the DPP, on their part, had submitted that the investigation were just part of the judicial system and did not necessarily mean one is guilty.
Kenyan world record holder Agnes Tirop has been found stabbed to death at her home in the western town of Iten, with police treating her husband as a suspect.
The two-time World Athletics Championships bronze medallist, who finished fourth in the Olympic 5,000m final two months ago, was 25.
Last month, Tirop set the world record for a women’s only 10km road race in Germany.
A criminal investigation is now underway into her death, with police saying her husband has gone missing.
On Wednesday, crime scene investigators were at the house of Tirop, who police say was reported missing by her father on Tuesday night.
“When [police] got in the house, they found Tirop on the bed and there was a pool of blood on the floor,” Tom Makori, head of police for the area, said.
“They saw she had been stabbed in the neck, which led us to believe it was a knife wound, and we believe that is what caused her death.
“Her husband is still at large, and preliminary investigations tell us her husband is a suspect because he cannot be found. Police are trying to find her husband so he can explain what happened to Tirop.”
Makori added that police believe that CCTV in the house may be able to help with their investigation.
Tirop was also found dead with a stab wound to her stomach, sources have told the BBC.
“Athletics Kenya are distraught to learn about the untimely death of World 10,000m bronze medallist Agnes Tirop,” the country’s athletics body said in a statement.
“We are still working to unearth more details surrounding her demise. Kenya has lost a jewel who was one of the fastest-rising athletics giants on the international stage, thanks to her eye-catching performances on the track.”
Tirop’s ascent to global success
Tirop’s first taste of international success saw her win the world junior 5,000m bronze in 2012 and 2014, as well as a world junior cross country silver in 2013.
Two years later, during a rapid ascent, she won the senior World Cross Country championships in China, becoming the second-youngest woman after Zola Budd to claim gold.
Tirop cuddles with husband and now the suspected murderer.
At the 2020 Olympic Games in August, Tirop finished just outside the medal places for the women’s 5,000m, trailing Ethiopia’s bronze medallist Gudaf Tsegay by 0.75 seconds.
“It is unsettling, utterly unfortunate and very sad that we’ve lost a young and promising athlete who, at a young age of 25 years, had brought our country so much glory,” Kenya’s president Uhuru Kenyatta said.
“It is even more painful that Agnes, a Kenyan hero by all measures, painfully lost her young life through a criminal act perpetuated by selfish and cowardly people.”
“I urge our law enforcement agencies to track down and apprehend the criminals responsible for the killing of Agnes so that they can face the full force of the law,” the head of state added.
Record-breaking Kenyan distance runner Agnes Tirop was found dead Wednesday with stab wounds to her stomach in a suspected homicide, athletics officials said.
Tirop, 25, was a fast-rising athlete — a double world 10,000m bronze medallist and 2015 world cross county champion who also finished fourth in the 5,000m at the Tokyo Olympics this year.
Only last month, she smashed the women-only 10 km world record at the Road to Records Event in Germany, with a time of 30:01, slicing 28 seconds off the previous record, Athletics Kenya said.
Tirop also made history in 2015 when she became the second-youngest ever gold medallist in the women’s cross country championships after South Africa’s Zola Budd.
She was found dead at her home in the high altitude training town of Iten in western Kenya.
“Kenya has lost a jewel who was one of the fastest rising athletics giants on the international stage, thanks to her eye-catching performances on the track,” Athletics Kenya said in a statement.
“We are still working to unearth more details about her demise.”
– ‘A Kenyan hero’ –
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta paid tribute to the young athlete and urged the police to track down those behind her death.
“It is unsettling, utterly unfortunate and very sad that we’ve lost a young and promising athlete who, at a young age of 25 years, she had brought our country so much glory through her exploits on the global athletics stage,” he said in a statement.
“It is even more painful that Agnes, a Kenyan hero by all measures, painfully lost her young life through a criminal act perpetuated by selfish and cowardly people,” he said.
On Saturday, another Kenyan long-distance athlete Hosea Mwok Macharinyang, a member of the country’s record-breaking world cross country team, died of what Kenyan athletics officials said was suicide.
Macharinyang, 35, was found in his home in West Pokot in western Kenya.
“He was such a brilliant athlete, committed to the sport where he competed for Kenya for many years in both cross country and the 5,000m and 10,000m races,” Jackson Pkemoi, the West Pokot representative of Athletics Kenya, told AFP.
Macharinyang made a record eight appearances, and won three consecutive titles for Kenya in the World Cross Country Championships from 2006 to 2008.
Kenya is the most successful country in the cross country championships, having won 49 team and 27 individual titles.
Four-time Berlin Marathon winner Haile Gebrselassie has a lot to show for his 25-year marathon career – no regrets at all.
He is content with who he is thanks to his sporting career and years of putting in the hard work.
Gebrselassie is now a big name in Ethiopia’s hospitality industry. After his retirement in 2015, he had enough experience of what Ethiopia lacked in the hospitality industry.
He took up the mantle to change the narrative about Ethiopia’s hotel industry from all he learned during his active athletic years.
In one of the magnificent buildings in Addis Ababa, Gebrselassie’s expansive office dazzles with a basement gym. His hallways have stacks of snacks alluding to a man with a sweet tooth and love fines things in life.
Nonetheless, for the 48-year-old two-time Olympic medalist to achieve this, it took good planning, discipline, and sacrifices. Having spent half of his life globe-trotting and staying in his hotels, he couldn’t wait to offer this feeling to 112 million Ethiopians.
But, where did it all start? What was his long race career like? Here is every captivating detail you should know about his career.
Haile Gebrselassie Early Career
Haile Gebrselassie. [East African Business Week]
Gebrselassie was born in 1973. He is one of his 10 other siblings. Throughout his school life, he covered 20 km daily. He would run on his way to school grasping his books in hand daily. Unknown to him, it was the preparation for what awaited him later in life.
His first international debut was in 1992 where he pulled the surprise car in Seoul, South Korea. He won a medal in the 5000 m race at the World Junior Championship.
That same year, he bagged a silver medal in the junior race at the World Cross Country Championships held in Boston, US.
His first 10,000 m world championship title came in 1993 and set out a path for him in the road race. Though it was a controversial win with claims that he stepped on Moses Tanui’s toes at the finishing line he still won.
He retained the world championship title in 1995, 1997, and 1999. The now millionaire Ethiopian businessman carved out his middle athletics career between 1998 and 2004. He won almost every other race track he got his feet into.
For instance, in 1998, he joined the Golden League jackpot for winning all of his races in the Golden League series that summer. He clinched victory in 2000 m and 3000 m races.
At the Sydney Olympics in 2000, he won both the 5000 m and 10000 m races in a grueling race pitting him against Kenya’s Paul Tergat.
After 2004, he focused fully on road racing and marathons leaving the tracks to new entrants. Since then, he successfully participated and won in the London, Berlin, Fukuoka, Amsterdam, And New York marathons respectively.
Haile Gebresallasie Retirement Thoughts
By 2010, Gebrselassie was already a marathon icon of his time. Unfortunately, he suffered an inflamed knee that made him announce his retirement prematurely. Days later, he took to social media telling the world that he was reconsidering his stand.
In 2011, he made a resounding comeback and won a half marathon in Vienna and the Great Manchester Run in England. The next four years were defining for his career with wins and losses which he put an end to in May 2015 when he announced his retirement.
However, he was specific that he only retired from active and competitive running and not running in its entirety. He describes running as a part of life that he can’t do without.
Haile Gebrselassie. [AIPS Media]
Political Ambitions
Just before he announced his retirement in 2010, Gebrselassie toyed with the idea of joining elective politics. But, Ethiopia’s political landscape was and still is unaccommodating for celebrities turning to the political table. He reconsidered this decision and took a different retirement option that many athletes of his class take.
Gebrselassie Businesses After Retirement
The 10-mile run world record holder set up a dozen hotels and resorts across Ethiopia on top of his vast coffee farming estate. He also owns shares in the Hyundai assembly plant in Addis Ababa that mainly deals with electric-powered cars.
He is proud of the input he gave to Ethiopia’s film industry. He was the first investor to open a cinema hall when the film was just another mirage in Addis Ababa.
That if it rains it pours is not a phrase we have not been already accustomed to when it comes to matters concerning record Kenyan champions Gor Mahia.
In the latest saga at the team, club treasurer Dolfina Odhiambo has highlighted damning revelations of how secretary general Sam Ocholla, vice chairman Francis Wasuna and one co-opted Executive Committee member Gerphas Okumu doctored minutes and claimed to have been sanctioned by the Gor Mahia Executive Members on their way to changing/adding of mandate in the club’s account as they claimed to increase the same to four for any transactions.
To the treasure’s surprise, the three got their way in successfully conducting the ‘illegal transaction’ after the assistance of the top honchos at Bank of Africa, which holds the club’s accounts.
“Few days ago, Secretary General Mr. Sam Ocholla, The Vice Chairman,Mr. Wasuna and one Co-opted EC member Gerphas Okuku, went to Bank of Africa, which holds the Club’s account with doctored minutes claiming to have been sanctioned by the GMFC EC Members authorizing change/addition of mandate and which claims to increase the same to four for any transactions. To my surprise and with due respect to BOA, they managed to do the illegal transaction with assistance of an employee of the Bank, the Bank Manager, Nairobi Branch -Reinsurance Plaza,” a part of the press release read.
Gor Mahia chairman, Ambrose Rachier.
According to the treasure, this latest move by the officials of the club comes as a ploy to reap the KSh. 6,600,000 that the club is set to receive from CAF for their qualification to the CAF Confederation Cup.
The duo of Wasuna and Ocholla are also said to be culpable of the mysterious disappearance of a total sum of Ksh. 7,600,000 which the club treasure says she cannot account for and is not reflecting in the club’s bank portals.
“Fellow members and fans of GMFC, the same individuals collected Kshs. 2,000,000.00 as Betway Cup prize winning money in cash despite my efforts to provide the club’s account to FKF, this is in addition to the initial Kshs. 3,000,000.00 collected from the same FKF at the beginning of the season, which to date has never been accounted for by same Mr. Wasuna and Mr. Ocholla.”
“I have also been reliably informed that the Kshs. 2,600,000.00 which FKF owes GMFC as grants from BetKing Premier League Sponsorship has also been paid to the club, an amount which I have not seen in the Club’s account as at the time of this release, I therefore ask the FKF CEO to come clear on who they gave the money as was rightly confirmed by FKF last week,” the letter continued.
Gor mahia'S treasurer Dolphina Odhiambo has raised concerns over how finances are being managed at the club. The concerns were raised via a letter done to the members of the club. #TheGamePlanpic.twitter.com/NOc38Lu06F
The treasure went ahead to ask the fans and club members not to demand accountability from her as the money she is supposed to handle is not within her confines
“As I conclude fellow members, you elected me with the help of the Finance Officer to be the custodian of clubs’ finances, I therefore feel that it won’t be fair for the members to ask me to be accountable to the money/funds/grants which I never received. I shall continue to do my best to ensure high levels of Transparency and Accountability is achieved in this Club,” the treasurer concluded.
Cuban Yordenis Ugas pulled off a stunning victory over 42-year-old former champion Manny Pacquiao with a unanimous decision to retain his WBA welterweight world title after an intense fight in Las Vegas on Saturday.
The judges scored the fight 115-113 116-112 116-112 in favour of Ugas, who controlled the second half of the contest with his jab as the more aggressive Pacquiao struggled to land his punches on his return to the ring after a two-year absence.
“Now the plan is to unify the title,” Ugas, 35, said in the ring through a translator. “Everyone said he was the champion, now they know who the real champion is.”
Pacquiao was initially preparing to fight WBC and IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence, Jr. but a retinal tear in the American’s left eye forced him to withdraw, with Ugas agreeing to step in at less than two weeks’ notice. read more
Ugas had been elevated to WBA super champion after Pacquiao was stripped of the belt because of inactivity as he had not fought since July 2019 and the Filipino looked desperate to get it back.
The clear favourite of the 17,438 fans at the T-Mobile Arena, southpaw Pacquiao came out aggressively in the early rounds with his trademark speed and combinations.
Ugas’s long reach enabled him to keep the former eight-division world champion at arm’s length, however, and his jab was proving an effective, if not fight-winning, weapon.
Pacquiao continued to throw almost twice as many punches as his opponent but the Cuban was more accurate with his, and there was plenty of sting in the big rights he was starting to land over the top.
The crowd was reduced to a nervous silence as the fight headed into the final rounds with no sign of the knockout that Pacquiao needed to come out a winner, although spectators were roused into voice when the fighters went toe-to-toe in the 10th.
Ultimately, though, Pacquiao’s ageing legs had nothing more to give and Ugas, a bronze medallist at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, earned the decision to improve his record to 27-4.
Pacquiao, the only man in boxing history to hold world titles in eight different divisions and one of the greatest boxers of all time, will announce next month if he will run for the presidency of the Philippines in the 2022 elections.
Uganda’s president announced Wednesday that the country’s athletes who won medals at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics will be given lifetime salaries, cars and houses.
Yoweri Museveni met with the athletes who returned home with medals from the Summer Games and presented them with awards, the Daily Monitor newspaper reported.
The gold medalists will receive a monthly salary of 5 million Ugandan shillings ($1,420) in addition to a car, and a house will be built for their families.
Three million Ugandan shillings ($852) will be allocated to silver medalists, and a million Ugandan shillings ($284) to bronze medalists.
Ugandan athlete Joshua Cheptegei won the gold medal in the men’s 5,000-meter race and the silver medal in the 10,000-meter race.
Peruth Chemutai brought the other gold medal home in the women’s 3000-meter steeplechase.
Athlete Jacob Kiplimo also won a bronze medal in the men’s 10,000-meter race.
Lionel Messi is expected to arrive in Paris on Monday, lured by the limitless funds of PSG, having said a tearful farewell to Barcelona after 21 years.
The 34-year-old, seen by the French giants’ Qatari owners as the vital missing piece of their frustrating Champions League puzzle, has already had fans playing a guessing game.
On Sunday night, dozens of PSG diehards gathered at the gates of Le Bourget airport to the north of the capital in the hope of catching a glimpse of their newest ‘galactico’.
However, their wait was in vain.
Stressing no deals had been done, Messi did concede at his tearful farewell news conference in Barcelona earlier Sunday that joining PSG was a “possibility”.
In reality, they are the only club who can afford what is expected to be a deal worth 35 million euros a year for the 34-year-old Argentine.
“I gave everything for Barcelona from the first day that I arrived right to the last. I never imagined having to say goodbye,” Messi told the news conference.
“I have still not come to terms with the reality of leaving this club now — I love this club,” added a suited Messi, who several times wiped away tears before a squadron of reporters at the club’s Camp Nou ground who gave him a standing ovation.
Messi, widely considered the most gifted player in the history of the game, won 35 trophies at Barcelona who he joined as a 13-year-old — including four Champions Leagues and 10 league titles while his 672 goals are a record for any of the top five European leagues.
– ‘Great for Ligue 1’ –
Despite offering to cut his salary by half to seal a new five-year deal which a club carrying debts of 1.2 billion euros ($1.5 billion) and player had agreed on, the agreement foundered on strict Spanish League salary restrictions.
Some in France’s Ligue 1 have mixed feelings about the impending arrival of Messi who will form a superstar attacking force alongside Kylian Mbappe and Neymar who earns a reported 36 million euros a year and is a former Barcelona teammate of the Argentine.
“It’s extraordinary for Ligue 1,” said Metz coach Frederic Antonetti.
“But for a purist like me, Messi should have finished his career at Barcelona.”
This summer PSG have already added veteran Spanish defender Sergio Ramos from Real Madrid, where he won four Champions League crowns, as Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Messi is a free agent. Ramos also arrived on a free transfer.
A move to the Parc des Princes would mean a reunion with his Argentina international colleague Angel di Maria.
An added attraction is that coach Mauricio Pochettino, like Messi, started his career at Newell’s Old Boys in Rosario, Argentina.
Pochettino has been giving nothing away on the arrival of Messi.
“There have been lots of rumours. Lots of things are being said,” he said as PSG laboured to a 2-1 win over Troyes in their opening game of the new league season.
Jorge Sampaoli, the coach of PSG’s bitter rivals Marseille, said the arrival of Messi can only be good news for French football.
“It would be great for Ligue 1, he’s the best player in the world,” said Sampaoli.
“French football has won a lot and grown a lot in recent seasons.
“Even if he goes to a club other than Marseille, it will be good. Everyone would be riveted on the championship. It will be an additional motivation for us to play against him.”
Meanwhile, in an indication that Barcelona are keen to move swiftly on, they defeated Juventus 3-0 on Sunday night in a pre-season friendly.
Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge won the Olympic men’s marathon with a commanding performance in Sapporo on Sunday, winning his second straight gold medal and cementing his place among the all-time greats of the sport.
Abdi Nageeye of the Netherlands took silver and Belgium’s Bashir Abdi won bronze.
Kipchoge, 36, joins Ethiopia’s Abebe Bikila (1960 and 1964) and East Germany’s Waldemar Cierpinski (1976 and 1980) as the only runners to win back-to-back gold medals on the Olympic stage.
The world record holder has now won four Olympic medals overall, having also taken silver in 2008 and bronze in 2004 in the 5000m.
Kipchoge showed why he was the man to beat going into Sunday’s race when he took full control as he pushed ahead of the pack after the 30km mark.
By the 35km stage he had jumped out to a lead of 27 seconds from a virtual tie 5km earlier and extended it to one minute and 17 seconds by 40km.
Kipchoge finished in two hours, eight minutes and 38 seconds, holding up two fingers as he crossed the finish line.
FC Barcelona says Lionel Messi “shall not be staying on at FC Barcelona” adding that “both parties deeply regret that the wishes of the player and the club will ultimately not be fulfilled”
“Despite FC Barcelona and Lionel Messi having reached an agreement and the clear intention of both parties to sign a new contract today, this cannot happen because of financial and structural obstacles (Spanish Liga regulations).
As a result of this situation, Messi shall not be staying on at FC Barcelona. Both parties deeply regret that the wishes of the player and the club will ultimately not be fulfilled.
FC Barcelona wholeheartedly expresses its gratitude to the player for his contribution to the aggrandisement of the club and wishes him all the very best for the future in his personal and professional life.“ Reads the official statement from FC Barcelona.
The stunning move marks the end of an era for the soccer legend, who has spent his entire career at Barcelona, notching over a dozen combined La Liga and Champions League titles and winning the Ballon d’Or award as Europe’s top player six times.
American sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson could miss the chance to challenge for the Olympic 100 metres title in Tokyo after she tested positive for cannabis. Sources have revealed that she tested positive during the U.S. Olympic trials last month where the Richardson proved she is a gold medal contender after she won 100m in 10.86 seconds.
A positive test for cannabis means that all of Richardson’s results from the meet would be wiped out on top of missing a chance to compete at the Olympics games which are scheduled for later this month.
Jenna Prandini, who finished fourth in the final has already been approached to run for the U.S. in the 100m in Tokyo after calls and e-mails to Richardson’s agent, Renaldo Nehemiah, U.S.A Track and Field (USATF) and the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) aproved futile on Thursday.
Cannabis [p/courtesy]The 21-year-old sprinter was set to run in the 200m at the Stockholm Diamond League in Sweden this weekend but her name was found missing in the entry list in the race’s official website on Thursday.
World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) banned cannabis but if an athlete can prove that their ingestion of the drug was not related to sports performance then they can be banned for three months and not the usual four years.
And implicated the athletes who agree to undertake an approved treatment programme in collaboration with their national anti-doping agency can have their bans reduced to one month.
Richardson was looking forward to be the first American woman to win the Olympic 100m title after Gail Devers who posted 10.72 seconds in 1996.
But a month long ban backdated to the time when she tested positive would leave the Texan clear to race in the 4x100m relay at the Olympics on Aug. 6, if selected by USATF.
Richardson also has an option to appeal any sanction at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). Any sports body that feels her punishment is too lenient can also appeal at the same court.
Embattled Kenyan betting giant SportPesa has “disputed” the astonishing Sh95 billion (£633 million) total that the Kenya Revenue Authority says it owes in unpaid taxes.
The figure, reported by the Daily Nation newspaper in January, is thought to be one of the biggest amounts ever claimed from a company by the Kenyan tax collector.
The Daily Nation article was based on a leaked letter from the KRA to SportPesa’s main entity in Kenya, Pevans East Africa, in which it detailed its findings from a preliminary audit of the company’s tax affairs from 2015 to 2019.
SportPesa – through London law firm Schillings – told Finance Uncovered this month the headline Sh95 billion figure was “not a formal finding by KRA or even a formal assessment”.
It added that the KRA had “simply [undertaken] an information-gathering exercise” that is still “in its preliminary stages”.
Schillings said its client “disputed” the figure and because the letter was not a formal assessment there was “no question” of it taking it yet to a Tax Appeals Tribunal. Schillings declined to answer detailed questions about the matter, insisting the letter was confidential.
The KRA, likewise, declined to answer detailed questions.
Has the KRA made a huge error?
However, an analysis of the KRA’s reported findings by Finance Uncovered suggests the tax authority may have made a massive error in its calculations, overestimating its total by at least Sh69 billion (£460 million).
Stripping this error out would leave a preliminary assessment of Sh26 billion (£169 million).
The Finance Uncovered analysis of the KRA’s calculation is based on two main sets of documents.
The first is the original articlepublished by the Daily Nation in January which provided many details of the KRA’s private letter to Pevans.
This letter reportedly contained breakdowns of how the KRA arrived at the Sh95 billion figure, for example, by examining various company accounts and other documents it had obtained during its audit.
The second set of documents was a series of annual company accounts for Pevans between 2014 and 2019. Unlike in the UK, these corporate documents are not usually available for public viewing in Kenya.
By comparing the numbers reportedly used by the KRA in its audit to the actual figures in Pevans’s books – and by examining other important information in the publicly available accounts for SportPesa’s UK operations – it was possible to see a fundamental flaw in the KRA’s assumptions.
This related to the “revenue share” arrangement that SportPesa had set up between its UK and Kenyan businesses. This arrangement had allowed the UK company to bill Pevans for a percentage share of its revenue from Kenyan gamblers.
It was a legal method of sending money from Kenya to the UK.
However, Finance Uncovered has concluded the KRA’s officials applied the revenue share percentage to the wrong revenue figure, thereby massively overestimating the company’s actual turnover.
This had two major consequences for the KRA’s tax calculations because they then not only overestimated the amount of corporation tax that the company owed, but also the total of allegedly unpaid betting tax, a separate levy applied on turnover.
The mistake could be hugely embarrassing for the KRA. It is not known whether it has accepted the error as part of the ensuing private correspondence with Pevans.
Boom and burst: the SportPesa dividends
Meanwhile, a separate examination of the accounts for Pevans East Africa has also revealed the enormous sums the company was able to pay out in dividends and move offshore as it cashed in on Kenya’s betting boom.
They show how the company’s Bulgarian and Kenyan owners bolstered their wealth during a period when many of those using gambling sites became gambling addicts and lost their livelihoods.
Between 2014 and 2019, Pevans paid out Sh7.8 billion (£60 million) in dividends to its select group of 10 shareholders, according to the company’s cash flow statements.
A cousin of Kenya’s president became the 11th shareholder, with a 1% stake, in mid-2018.
In addition, Pevans paid its seven directors – of whom five were non-executives earning much lower fees – a total of Sh558 million (£4.3 million) in salaries and perks between them in that time.
The accounts also reveal that as SportPesa flourished, it created a network of related overseas companies which received money from Pevans for “revenue share” arrangements, “legal and professional fees” and other services.
These monies were used to facilitate the company’s international expansion that saw it land high profile sponsorship deals with the likes of English Premier League club Everton FC.
The overseas companies which received the money from Kenya included firms based in the UK, the Isle of Man tax haven and the Canary Islands.
These offshore structures and payments are not illegal and there is no suggestion of wrongdoing by SportPesa.
The KRA was reportedly examining many of these payments as part of the wide-ranging audit it had conducted on Pevans’s books.
The tax row is the latest low point for SportPesa’s owners after their bubble burst spectacularly in 2019 when the company fell out of favour with the government.
Until then the company had been a darling of the Kenyan corporate world. The accounts seen by Finance Uncovered help paint a fuller picture of its rise and fall.
SportPesa was founded in 2014 by a consortium of Bulgarian and Kenyan investors.
The three biggest shareholders, with a 21% stake each, were Guerassim Nikolov, a former croupier from Sofia who had made Kenya his home in the early 2000s; Gene Grand, a Bulgarian-born, naturalised American citizen; and Dick Wathika, a Kenyan politician who had been an MP and former mayor of Nairobi.
Guerassim Nikolov, SportPesa’s co-founder and equal biggest shareholder (Photo: Facebook)
Wathika died in 2015, and his shares passed to his widow, Asenath Wacera, a private figure who keeps a low profile.
Other significant shareholders include one-time chairman Paul Wanderi Ndung’u, a well-connected businessman with links to the ruling party’s fundraising machine, holding a 17% stake; and its chief executive Ronald Karauri, the son of a former MP who began his career as a pilot for the national carrier Kenya Airways, with 6% initially, rising to 7% in 2018.
Sports betting was a relatively new idea in Kenya at the time, but the Pevans accounts for 2014 showed early promise for the sector: the company received bets totalling Sh1.27 billion (£9 million) that year.
What happened over the next four years was simply extraordinary.
Punters flocked to SportPesa, whose slick product meshed seamlessly with a nationwide mobile phone-based banking system, dominated by a service called M-Pesa, which had become an essential part of everyday life in the East African country.
The bets poured in: from Sh16 billion (£104 million) in 2015 to Sh80 billion in 2016; then Sh111.5 billion in 2017 rising to Sh149 billion (£1.15 billion) in 2018, the accounts show. This was an increase of more than ninefold in just three years.
SportPesa’s Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR), or turnover – the amount it retains after player winnings have been paid out – also followed a steep trajectory, and stood at Sh20 billion (£155 million) by 2018, up from Sh3.49 billion (£23 million) in 2015.
As a gambling craze swept the nation, a wave of social problems rose steadily in its wake. The government tried introducing new taxes to put the brakes on betting.
But eventually it could no longer ignore reports of gambling-related suicides, data showing hundreds of thousands of young Kenyans had been blacklisted for bad debts, and public pleas by influential sections of civil society, such as churches, to bring betting under control.
In July 2019, the government intervened, withdrawing betting licences of 27 companies, including SportPesa. It also ordered telecom companies to stop processing bets on their behalf.
Out of Kenya, into Europe…
But by this time billions of shillings bet by ordinary Kenyans in net stakes had been transferred by SportPesa to its companies overseas as it embarked on a major international expansion.
The accounts for Pevans show the scale of this offshoring: more than one-fifth of its turnover earned in Kenya was transferred out of the country directly.
To help fund sponsorship deals with the likes of Everton and smaller deals with Arsenal, Southampton and Hull City, the company’s bosses established a new corporate structure.
In particular, they established related companies in the Isle of Man and the UK.
And these companies were funded almost entirely by two newly devised revenue streams: a “revenue share” agreement with Pevans, based on a small percentage of the gross bets staked in Kenya; and by billing Pevans for “legal and professional fees”, or shared services.
These were recorded by Pevans in its accounts as costs, which in turn reduced its profits and its liability for Kenyan corporation tax.
These offshore structures and related party payments are not illegal and there is no suggestion of wrongdoing by SportPesa.
Based on the accounts it has seen, Finance Uncovered has calculated that in 2017 and 2018, the total of these costs paid to the overseas companies was Shs10.7 billion (£82.4 million).
Of these, Shs5.46 billion (£42 million) went to the UK company, SPS Sportsoft Ltd, and Shs5.24 billion (£40.5 million) to SP Services Ltd in the Isle of Man.
As a result of this arrangement, the UK company recorded huge profits, but SportPesa’s bosses were able to reduce their tax bills there, too.
As Finance Uncovered reported in 2020, the UK company was able to exploit a 1976 Double Taxation Treaty between Britain and Kenya. This allowed it to offset the Withholding Tax it paid in Kenya on the international payments against the UK corporation tax liability.
This meant it recorded huge post-tax profits in Britain. These were then paid out as dividends to a UK holding company called SportPesa Global Holdings Limited – owned by the same shareholders and in the same proportions as Pevans.
As of the 2018 year-end, the holding company itself was still sitting on £21.8 million of accumulated profit reserves.
A £14 million impairment charge on its investment in SportPesa Italy reduced this reserve to £7 million at the end of 2019, according to the holding company’s latest accounts, released earlier this month.
The Isle of Man company’s profits are unknown, because company accounts are not publicly available in the offshore jurisdiction. However, it would have paid 0% corporation tax on its profits.
Enter the KRA….
Whatever expansion plans SportPesa had in 2019, they hit the buffers as soon as the Kenyan government brought operations at its cash cow, Pevans, to a halt.
In January, the Daily Nation reported many details of the KRA’s preliminary findings of its tax audit of Pevans.
This revealed that the KRA had questioned the huge legal and professional fees incurred by Pevans in its dealings with its overseas companies.
The KRA reportedly also said that certain sports sponsorship costs were not allowed under Kenyan law and it reportedly added these back into Pevans’ taxable profits.
The future for SportPesa is now unclear and there have even been major battles between its original shareholders.
The public fall-out was triggered in October last year after SportPesa transferred its branding rights from Pevans to a company with a newly acquired Kenyan betting licence, called Milestone Games.
Finance Uncovered posed a series of questions to SportPesa back in January about the KRA audit as well as about its 2014-2019 financials. SportPesa responded by instructing London law firm Schillings. Schillings said it acted for both Pevans and Milestone.
In letters exchanged with Schillings over the ensuing months, the law firm said the matter with the KRA was strictly confidential and not subject to public scrutiny. It said its client would not be commenting on any issues relating to the KRA.
It said Pevans was cooperating “fully” with the KRA.
Schillings also said the value of dividends and salaries received by individual shareholders and directors was also “private and confidential”. The lawyers said our calculations on dividends – taken from Pevans’ own cash flow statements – were “incorrect” but declined to expand.
SportPesa has strongly denied any wrongdoing.
The KRA declined to comment.
This Article Was First Published On Financial Uncovered.
IMAGE SOURCE, EPA
