It is now official that Dennis Oliech has retired from the national team. He decided to retire after a disagreement with Football Kenya Federation and East Africa Breweries Ltd (EABL), the sponsors of the national team. The dispute stems from the use of Oliech’s image in advertizing billboards by EABL. OLiech contends that EABL should have consulted him before using his image. EABL contended that by signing a sponsorship deal with the national team, they have carte blanche to use images of national team players.

Both are correct. However a closer look reveals the fact that EABL took an unfortunate stance. What they forgot is that Oliech did not sign a contract with the national team. So he is free to quit at anytime. The same applies to any national team member. In the future there will be other Kenyans who move to Europe to play in top leagues. It is likely the the same scenario will re-occur then. Why ? Because image rights are a big issue in Europe. The top players typically sign contracts that contain clauses that contain clauses about image rights.

Sports agent Dave Williams, who represents England stars said in an interview with BBC in 2002: To sign a contract purely based on performance on the sports field is a little bit naive if you’re somebody who does have true value as a household name. “It makes sense to license your image or copyright it to exploit its value“. Top players like David Beckam certainly have image clauses in their contracts but so do lesser known players.

Europe based players being highly knowledgable about the marketing aspects of the game, will likely not allow their image rights to be exploited.

Besides this, Europe based players like Mariga and Oliech literally do not need the national team. They sacrifice their time, health and in some cases money to play for the national team. Health you ask ? Yes. Remember the case of Emmanuel Ake, the Kenyan star who was injured in the match against Nigeria in 2009 ? After that injury, his form was never the same. The injury probably did not heal completely and Ake soon lost his place at a top tier team in Denmark. He was soon club-less and his career in the Danish league which had spanned several years ended. He essentially sacrificed his career while playing for the national team.

So these players are already risking injury by playing for the national team. Injuries that could wreck their careers. How much more sacrifice and exploitation should they endure for the national team ?

And we all know top goalkeeper, Arnold Origi, perhaps the best Kenyan keeper since Mahmoud Abbas broke his leg twice while playing for the national team. He eventually decided to quit the national team because besides risking injury, the long trip from Scandinavia to Nairobi was exacerbating his foot problems. All those who are above average height and have flown Economy class for 8 hrs know the discomfort it causes.

The moral of the last two paragraphs is that Europe based player often takes risks to play for a national team which often does not offer insurance. So if they perceive that they are being exploited, they will not take it lying down. Believe me, Oliech will not be the last to raise this issue. FKF and EABL should take note. What they are doing here is myopic.

Many insist that Oliech and others should be patriotic. But footballers have a limited shelf life. Oliech at 27 probably has only 3 years left at the top. He needs to maximize his earnings in order to have enough money left for his retirement.

Another factor EABL must consider is player morale. Even if Oliech or Mariga returns with the issue unresolved, the dampening of their morale could impact team performance. A player who feels exploited will not give his best performance. They are human after all. Does EABL really want their brand associated with poor performance ?

EABL should reconsider their stance. If not, there will be other players quitting the national team in the future. The only ones who will not quit are the Kenya based ones who are desperate for any exposure. Do Kenyan fans want to continue loosing their best players for the sake of EABL sponsorship ? Do EABL want to be responsible for denying Kenyans a chance to see the very best players available ? These are the questions that FKF, the fans and EABL should ask themselves.

I am not saying that EABL must pay Oliech. Either remove the images from the billboard or compensate the players. And make peace with the players for the sake of the national team, EABL and the fans.