Forget the naysayers, I am still sponsoring Mombasa United, Shahbal says
BY BRIAN OTIENO @Yobramos4 Saturday, October 24, 2026
Mombasa businessman-cum-politician Suleiman Shahbal has denied reports that he has stopped sponsoring Mombasa United, which was promoted to play in the FKF Premier League for the 2026/2027 season.
He said he was the brains behind the team, which was formed after the first edition of the Shahbal Supercup in 2022, from where players were selected from across the county.
“We started with this team from the grassroots until we reached the premier league, which was our main aim. Why would I stop supporting in now?” he posed, dismissing the reports as political propaganda.
He said the team does not belong to an individual but to the people of Mombasa county and should be supported by all and sundry.
Reports have emerged that there is a rift between team patron Shahbal and President Abdirahman Hussein alias Anza Fresh.
This is after the reports claimed that Shahbal is no longer sponsoring the club and that the team is looking for other sponsors.
However, on Saturday, Shahbal said there is no rift between him and Anza Fresh and that he has not and will not cease sponsoring a team he helped form and nurture.
“These stories that Shahbal has stopped sponsoring Mombasa United are not true. The stories that Shahbal and Anza Fresh are at loggerheads are not true either,” he said at the Serani ground during the launch of the Shahbal Supercup 2.0.
He said he and Anza Fresh are working together.
He revealed that he was with Anza Fresh in Dubai where they met the SportPesa chairman, who agreed to sponsor Mombasa United.
“We are also in talks with Azam and we are hopeful we will get sponsorship there too,” Shahbal said.
Shahbal, together with Mining CS Hassan Joho, also approached President William Ruto with a request for a team bus and the President graciously agreed to donate one for the team.
“The bus will be delivered in the next two or three weeks,” Shahbal said.
He said he has come from far with the team.
“These politicians who want to bring politics into football, where were they when we were struggling to build this team? Now that the team is ready and has become nationally recognized that is when they are emerging from everywhere trying to antagonize people? It is not fair to the boys,” he said.
He called on stakeholders to keep politics out of football and out of sports.
He asked the Mombasa county government to also support the team, which represents the county.
“Nairobi governor Johnson Sakaja is supporting Nairobi United. (Kisii governor) Simba Arati supports Shabana FC. This is Mombasa United, not Shahbal United. So let us stop politicking with this team,” Shahbal said.
“I am sponsoring Mombasa United to the best of my ability and I will continue sponsoring Mombasa United. To the people who are bring politics to the team, shame on you.
“Let us, for a change, unite as a people of Mombasa. We have something to be proud of. This team has lifted us in the whole of Kenya,” he said.
Shahbal said football brings people together and forget their differences.
“It brings discipline to young people,” he noted.
He called on leaders to help support sports and not weaponized it.
He said when they started Mombasa United, they registered it to play in the lower tiers of Football Kenya Federation leagues.
Shahbal said they achieved their main objective of the Shahbal Supercup First Edition which was to form a team in Mombasa that would be playing in the Kenya Premier League.
The edition saw the formation of Mombasa United, which made their Kenya Premier League debut in the current 2026/2027 season.
He said the Shahbal Supercup 2.0 will also lead the formation of a second team in Mombasa that will be supported to make it to the Kenyan top tier league.
“This second team will be called Mombasa City. We will have Mombasa United and Mombasa City just like we have Manchester United and Manchester City in England,” Shahbal said.
Shahbal’s daughter Samira Shahbal also announced the launch of her own Samira Shahbal Junior Cup, a football tournament for the Under 18s.
FKF Mombasa county chair Alamin Abdalla said he is optimistic the second edition of the Shahbal Supercup will also be as successful as the first edition and will lead to the formation of Mombasa City FC.
“The way the first edition in 2022 resulted in Mombasa United, we are optimistic that the second edition will also lead to Mombasa City,” Abdalla said.
He said FKF is ready to partner will all stakeholders to push the standards of football in Mombasa up.
“We only need to cooperate and improve our football. Kenya has to know that there is enough talent in Mombasa. We are working to take football in Mombasa to the levels they used to be in when we were producing the best talent and feeding the national team with players,” Abdalla said.
Ends...
PICs:
FKF Mombasa count chair Alamin Abdalla [in red] and Suleiman Shahbal at Serani ground on Saturday / BRIAN OTIENO
Mombasa United sponsor Suleiman Shahbal [kicking] at Serani ground on Saturday / BRIAN OTIENO
Samira Shahbal [L] and Suleiman Shahbal at Serani ground on Saturday / BRIAN OTIENO
