The Kenya Betting Control and Licensing Board, has put a stop to Sportpesa’s attempt at re-entering the Kenyan market.

This came hours after SportPesa Chief Executive (CEO) Ronald Karauri announced that a licence held by a new operator, Milestone Games Limited, had acquired the rights to use the SportPesa brand-name in Kenya and that he was delighted to resume operations.

In a statement addressed to Milestone Games Limited operation manager Bernard Chauro, Safaricom PLC’s legal officer Daniel Ndaba and acting Communication Authority of Kenya director-general Mercy Wanjau, BCLB chairperson Cyrus Maina said the board had blocked Milestone Games Limited from using the trade name Sportpesa on grounds that the original owner of the name, Pevans East Africa Limited, had filed a case in court over licencing hence no firm can use the name until the matter before court is dispensed with.

The board had suspended SportPesa’s licence back on July 1, 2019, claiming the firm owed millions in unpaid tax. Payment options were also suspended.