Bilenge, a former Liverpool Football Club Team player has creditors hot on his heels

after being declared bankrupt in 2020. The player, who was considered to be one of the

best in the Team, was reported to earn British Pounds 25,000( KShs. 3.8 Million) a

week at the height of his career with Liverpool.

After an injury-plagued spell, Bulinda's career at Everton Football Club stalled. He was

released by the Club and his hopes of making a comeback in football were dogged by a

bout of malaria. Bulinda is said to have piled up debt despite having a fully paid contract

at Everton when he was released in 2019.

Hilary, a former player with Juventus Football Club, has been battling addiction to

whisky for the last 10 years, and has gone through rehabilitation seven times.This battle

with alcohol has cost Hilary approximately KShs. 900,000 a month to be helped off the

bottle and this has added to his financial woes. In 2015, Hilary had the Kenya Revenue

Authority on his back after being slapped with a bankruptcy petition of over KShs. 30

Million in unpaid taxes. As a high profile player, he earned a fortune while playing for

Juventus. At the peak of his career, he also secured a number of lucrative

sponsorships, but since he stopped playing in 2009, he has suffered alcohol and drug

addictions, as well as mental health problems. In an interview with the Daily Nation in

November 2011, he said that, after retiring from football, he found a ready companion in

drinks and cocaine.

'I went crazy' he said. 'The worst time was when I was four months without food or

water and I took four bottles of whisky a day. Football was what I lived for, but that was

gone.'

Hilary talked about his sterling past in his book, Tackling My Addictions. In it, he detailed

undergoing therapy for bulimia, obessive-compulsive disorder, bipolar disorder, and

alcoholism.

These cases highlight the sorry lives of many football players in Kenya, especially

international players, after retirement. Empirical evidence obtained through research by

Syponate, a research organization, shows that despite some players earning an

average of KShs 3.5 Million a week, many either squander their cash or engage

misleading investment advisers.

'It might sound incredible to normal fans, but it can does happen,' Syponate's Chief

Executive Officer George Kodo is quoted as saying on Radio Citizen.

Syponate's research also shows that after a year in retirement, 33 per cent of players

get divorced while 40 per cent are declared bankrupt within five years of playing their

last game, and 80 per cent suffer from osteoarthritis. Further, the research also

establishes that many football stars meet their spouses when they are active and are at

their best. But when retirement occurs, it not only creates a change of lifestyle, but also

a change in social standing, which ends up pressuring marriages. After retirement,

when many people are generally expected to go slow on their savings, several former

football players continue spending and living like they used to when they were active or

at their prime. Many spend fortunes on jewellery, mistresses and holiday homes bought

on loan. By the time the footballers realise they are leaking cash, it is too late.

Shivera and his three friends, being lovers of football, are concerned about the situation

described above affecting Bilenge, Bulinda, Hilary and many other former Kenyan

football stars, both local and international. They would like to set up an organization to

assist such players to deal with the challenges described above and to lead a normal

life after retirement from football. They have come to you to seek your legal advice on

the nature of the organization they can set up and the legal requirements.

Advise Shivera and his three friends. Support your answer with reference to relevant

authorities.