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Victor Wanyama stripped of his Safaricom endorsement deal

By NAHASHON MUSUNGU September 15th, 2018 1 min read

Safaricom has elected not to renew its endorsement deal with Harambee Stars captain Victor Wanyama.

Safaricom has instead elected to partner with Spain’s top flight football – famously referred to as LaLiga – as it unveiled the second edition of the grassroots Chapa Dimba na Safaricom football tournament in Nairobi on Saturday.

La Liga is home to some of the world’s greatest footballers including five-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi, 2018 Fifa World Golden Ball Winner Luka Modric and World Cup winner Antoine Griezmann.

“We’re excited to partner with Safaricom for #ChapaDimbaNaSafaricom because we feel there is exceptional football talent in Africa that needs to be nurtured,” said Gregory Bolle, La Liga’s representative.

BRAND AMBASSADOR

“The tournament will still be on the lookout for talent from the grassroots as we seek to offer them a platform to showcase their capabilities and possibly earn a call up to the national team,” Safaricom announced in a statement.

Last year, Safaricom partnered with Wanyama, who acted as the brand ambassador of the age-group football tournament in a reported Sh25 million deal.

The Harambee Stars captain, who is now facing a lengthy injury lay-off, was the face of this seven-month long grassroots competition which attracted hundreds of youngsters aged below 20.

Platueau Queens from Nyanza and Kapenguria Heroes from Rift Valley won this seven-month competition, a feat that not only earned them Sh1 million each, but also a trip to London to meet and train with the Tottenham Hotspur midfielder.