Tottenham Hotspurs’ Kenyan Midfielder, Victor Wanyama, moved to the Milimani High Court, on Wednesday, seeking payment for the unsanctioned use of his image by Menengai Oil Company Limited.
The Harambee Stars captain, through his lawyer, demanded compensation from Menengai, following its use of his image during the recently concluded AFCON tournament.
Menengai, an oil refinery company dealing with the production of vegetable oil, sent out a tweet that had his image on it.
“If you believe it, you can do it, we at the Menengai would like to wish our boys all the best in the Africa Cup of Nations,” read the tweet.
Wanyama argued that if the message was meant for the entire team as Menengai was claiming, then they’d have used a photo of the whole squad.
According to the star midfielder, this was in direct contravention of his image and personality rights, going on to argue that the image shared by Menengai Oil Refineries could be quantified as a marketing advertisement.
Wanyama’s meteoric rise has been an inspiration to countless young football players across the country.
The London-based star, who played until his bare feet bled on the streets of Nairobi as a child, helped Tottenham to the Champions League final in the 2018/2019 season.
A Nairobi native, raised in a family of 11 children, Wanyama made his debut on the dirt streets of Land Mawe, a neighbourhood at the time reserved for employees of the Kenyan railway company, for whom his mother worked.
The Spurs midfielder’s future at the team has been subject to lots of speculations, with latest rumours claiming that he could be headed to premier league side Wolverhampton Wanderers for the new season.
He was part of the Kenyan national team that was bundled out of AFCON 2019, having been pitted against eventual finalists, Senegal and Algeria, in the group stages.
