IN past seasons, I have watched with keen interest as local football leaders blundered on many occasions that have, in many cases, threatened local football.
REPORT BY BRIAN NKIWANE
When evaluating what happened last Thursday, I would urge football stakeholders to spare a thought for one of the leading financial companies, BancABC.
BancABC have been involved in football for a long time and so have league sponsors, Delta Beverages.
I would like to take you through the long and winding history of how the two organisations have stuck to Zimbabwean sport even when the country went through hard times.
Delta has stood the test of time in football with their sponsorship dating back to early ’60’s.
In 1980, the Rhodesia National Football League was disbanded paving way for the formation of the then Super League — now Premier Soccer League (PSL). Delta maintained their support before briefly pulling out of football in 2005 due to economic hardship.
This saw the 2006 premiership season won by Highlanders going unbranded.
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In 2007, another financial company, CBZ, started sponsoring football, but only lasted for three years. Those three years were so precious because of the situation in the country then. Not even a single company wanted to part with its hard-earned cash.
However, the marriage ended in 2009 and the league was forced to run once again without a sponsor.
In 2011, after repeated efforts by PSL leadership, Delta made a welcome re-entry into football sponsorship.
Its current sponsorship deal runs up to 2013 and is worth US$1,8 million.
Within three years of sponsorship, sponsors have included a variety of individual awards as well as honouring outstanding players as soccer star finalists.
As for BancABC, again the company has stood the test of time in football.
The eight-team tournament, which was supposed to enter the fifth year running, was launched in 2008 with CAPS United lifting the trophy after beating Lengthens in the final.
The bank has been patient as a lot of things, that can put off many sponsors have been happening during the four years they have been running the tournament. These ranged from violence, court cases and repeated appeals.
But my problem lies with the PSL leadership which I am going to rap for failing to engage and involve football stakeholders each time they make decisions. They seem pen-friendly in signing contracts that do not allow flexibility in the Premiership.
To make matters worse, they do not communicate all the prohibitive statutes to clubs and other sponsors on time, leading to big boobs. The latest is the Highlanders-DeMbare case where the two clubs were denied an opportunity to make extra cash in their quest to win the championship.
I feel someone in the PSL was sleeping on the job as BancABC claimed they had communicated with PSL on October 6 on the matter and were given the green light, but only to be told that it was not in order on Thursday.
My heart bleeds for both organisations and others who in the past, have tried to invest in football, but got raw deals.
At one point Econet had to pull out from sponsoring football after NetOne had insisted on sponsoring CAPS United, a club that was playing in the league that they were sponsoring.
Charity shield match almost almost called off
In April, a Charity Shield match pitting Dynamos and Motor Action was almost called off due to uniform problems.
This involved NetOne and BancABC, and the match was played, but with protest by tournament sponsors who later withheld the prize money that DeMbare won after beating Motor Action.
I think it’s high time our premiership leadership learnt to involve and engage all football stakeholders for the betterment of football at large.
Looking at the current economic situation, I don’t see any reason why players should be denied a chance to earn an extra coin to better their lives. At times facts are stubborn.
If all footballs stakeholders had been engaged, we could have found a better way out of this. If one comes across a wall they should go around it. Still it’s not too late let’s learn to involve and engage in serious matters.
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