THE Premier Soccer League (PSL)and the sponsors of the football season’s opener, NetOne, are set to renew their marriage after the expiration of their three-year contract. By Brian Nkiwane
This was revealed at the launch of this year’s edition of the NetOne Charity Shield in Harare which is being sponsored to the tune of US$300 000.
The two parties signed a three-year contract when NetOne came on board to sponsor the Charity Shield in 2011 after the season opener had disappeared from the radar owing to the economic meltdown.
The three-year sponsorship deal was subject to review as the packages have been varying since 2011.
NetOne head of marketing, Memory Mandiya Ndoro said: “The marriage has been going on well. There are a number of problems that came along, but together with the PSL and other stakeholders, we managed to surge forward to where we are today.”
“We are going to review the three-year programme after this year’s edition, which is on this weekend. Looking at what has happened in the past two editions, the pointers are we are going to renew the contract. NetOne will continue sponsoring the Charity Shield.”
Ndoro added that they had subscribers all over the country, hence the decision to take the games to Zvishavane.
“The past two editions of the Cup, in 2011 and 2012, were played in Harare, so this time around we decided to take the games to the people,” said Ndoro. PSL chief executive officer Kenny Ndebele echoed the same sentiments of a fruitful relationship. “As you have seen it for yourself, exciting things have started happening now, so we hope for a better and improved deal in the near future,” Ndebele said.
