Freestyle football world finals great shop window for Kenya
Last weekend’s announcement that Kenya would host next year’s Red Bull Street Style World Finals was music to my ears.
The announcement was made on the sidelines of this year’s finals in Pula, Croatia, by World Freestyle Football Association (WFFA) President Steve Elias.
The last time Africa hosted this growing brand of football was in 2010 with next year’s Kenya finals promising to be even bigger with the number of female finalists increased to 16 from the current eight.
Freestyle football is the art of doing tricks with a football, from juggling to balancing and controlling, the ultimate winner being the most creative and flawless individual.
This brand has grown steadily since the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo hosted the Red Bull Street Style competition in 2008.
In Kenya, this genre is also getting quite popular among the youth, especially with nothing much to write home about in our regular club and national team football.
Just a few months back, Nairobi hosted the Red Bull Street Style National Challenge with 38-year-old Coast champion Suleiman Fadhili outsmarting Martin Kibera by just 0.5 points to grab the national honours as Oliver “Jillo” Rhaya and Oscar “The Juggler” Litondo finished third and fourth, respectively.
Meanwhile, another celebrated freestyler Edward Murimu Mugweru, popularly known as “Teco”, has been invited to perform on the fringes of the Fifa World Cup in Qatar, an indication that Kenyan freestyling is indeed held in high esteem globally.
With Kenya having failed to host the 1996 Africa Cup of Nations finals and the 2018 African Nations Championship (Chan) due to a myriad of problems including inadequate funding and pedestrian infrastructure, the Red Bull Street Style World Finals are, perhaps, a realistic target and appropriate springboard.
Not much is required to host a global freestyle tournament in terms of venue, yet the returns are attractive.
As Myke Rabar, the chief executive officer of Kenya’s Homeboyz Entertainment PLC, who penned the 2023 finals deal in Croatia indicated at the weekend, the Red Bull Street Style World Finals could be as appealing as last year’s World Athletics Under-20 Championships in commercial terms with global competitors from over 35 countries expected.
The competition will enhance the growth of Brand Kenya with a global viewership of over three million expected.
“The city/country will have a legacy of improved sporting venues. We will also see improvement in infrastructure and transport to cater for an influx of tourists. The commercial benefit from the influx of international athletes and fans will be immense,” Rabar explained.
With an inspection team from the World Freestyle Football Association and main sponsors Red Bull expected to visit Kenya soon to inspect proposed venues and facilities, I’d expect counties to feverishly bid for these hosting rights.
The coastal counties, in particular, have the advantage of good bed capacity, touristic attractions and flawless flight connections.
They should be fighting to host this competition. A successful hosting of the Red Bull Street Style World Finals will, sort of, help us redeem our battered footballing image and lay the groundwork for the development of other forms of the game.
It will also whet corporate appetite and trigger interest in infrastructure development to help Kenya raise the bar as preferred hosts of global sporting competitions while creating a catchment of interest among our neglected youths.
Let’s face it, we don’t have stadiums that can host a continental football championship. But we have the wherewithal to host freestyle football’s global finals that would help catapult us to more grandiose events. BY DAILY NATION


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