This was due to the breach of contract by Mombasa RFU. EABL owns the alcohol rights of the 7s circuit and Mombasa RFC signed a deal with SAB Millers, the brewers of Castle brand giving them alcohol rights of the event which was a breach of contract hence forcing EABL to pull out of the leg and since EABL is one of the major partners of KRFU, KRFU had to cancel the event to maintain the good relationship with EABL.
In an exclusive interview with one of the officials at the Mombasa RFU, he explained that when EABL get alcohol rights of the event, the deal works out in a way that on the event day, you pay entrance fee where by you are given a voucher to redeem EABL products so Mombasa RFU goes home empty handed and actually count losses since they also have to hire the event venue because EABL gets all the proceed from the gate and alcohol sales and so they decided to sign a contract with SAB Millers who had offered them a better deal and had actually sponsored a few events by Mombasa RFU. The irony of the matter is that EABL and SAB Millers are actually rivals!
But, all hopes are not lost as SAB Millers confirmed that the event is still on on 24TH and 25TH of August 2013 as planned but under a different name and sponsorship and as a matter of fact, we were able to confirm that most, if not all of the teams slated to take part in the event confirmed their participation and as of last night, some teams had already started travelling to Mombasa amid fears that they could be penalised by KRFU. Here's the official statement by KRFU on the matter.
"The Kenya Rugby Union regrets to announce the cancellation of the third leg of the Safaricom Sevens Series, the Driftwood Sevens, which was scheduled to take place at the Mombasa Sports Club on 24th and 25th August 2013.The decision to cancel the tournament has been forced upon the Kenya Rugby Union by Mombasa RFC who have continued to be in breach of an existing sponsorship agreement between us, the KRU and East Africa Breweries Limited.Jack Okoth
The KRU has had a long standing partnership with EABL, which has enabled the KRU’s expansion of the local leagues and has seen clubs benefit from subsidies to enable them honor these league fixtures. This partnership includes a sponsorship agreement signed on July 11th 2011 that makes the drinks manufacturer, the exclusive alcohol beverage sponsor in all KRU events. Being an affiliate of the union, Mombasa RFC is bound by this agreement.Despite being informed of the same and the union’s best efforts in trying to prevent the same, Mombasa RFC have gone ahead to sign an agreement with a direct competitor of EABL, SAB Miller under its Castle Milk Stout brand to sponsor the tournament. The KRU has since tried to further negotiate with the club to end this agreement, with little success as the club has stood its ground.
It should be understood that the KRU will always work hard to secure the exclusivity of all the contracts it gets into. Guarding this exclusivity is what ensures that the KRU acquires the high quality agreements it has been able to enjoy this far.With the continued hardline stand adopted by Mombasa RFC on this matter, the KRU simply has left no choice but to call off the tournament as the involvement of a sponsor’s direct competitor would have created a conflict of interest with EABL. We however anticipate to organize a tournament in Mombasa at a later date.The Kenya Rugby Union takes this opportunity to apologisze for the inconvenience caused to our fans by this cancelation, and more so to the Sevens Series title sponsor, Safaricom Ltd who have invested a lot in turning around the Sevens Series into a top flight series of tournaments. Their involvement this year has seen great improvement in attendance over the two legs held this far and has changed the fortunes of the hosting clubs.As we strive to grow the game of rugby, we must ensure that any sponsors use the right channels to support the sport. We believe that the agreement between Mombasa RFC and SAB Miller is not in the right spirit and is not in the best interest of the game.
CEO and Hon. Secretary
Kenya Rugby Union"
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