out to clubs, there is need to
have a commercial viability to
our sporting venues and sports
investments.
Committing investments such as
was done for the World Under-18
Youth Athletics champions
then leaving these to lay waste
is unacceptable. IAAF, which
provided some of the funds to
the event, was satisfied with the
Government support.
Collaborating with higher learning
institutions, which would host
sports infrastructure like the High
Performance centre proposed at
Kenyatta University, is a step in
the right direction. Again though,
there has to be deliberate and
calculated move to engage the
public in owning and using such
facilities.
This will ensure the legacy of
major sports events is not lost on
the public and a sense of despair
and dishonesty pervades sports
edifices and related investments.
Back to our Asian partners. With
the entreaties to our national
governments to engage in exploiting
opportunities for investing in Kenya
and indeed in Africa, remember the
populace will only accept to be blind
for only so long.
If there is no genuine public
good in investing in such
infrastructure, it will be a matter
of time before the same public
revolts and openly opposes any
investments.
To paraphrase Zig Ziglar, “You
don’t build a stadium, you build
people, and the people build the
stadium”.
Richard is a seasoned columnist on
sports marketiing. Catch him at
his favourite sports haunt, or when
not enjoying this, engage him on
Twitter @RWanjohi or send him
random comments and thoughts on:
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