HIGHLANDERS are set to receive a major boost ahead of their first big Castle Lager Premier Soccer League match of the season following a sponsorship deal between the club and Better Brands to be unveiled at a local hotel tonight.
Better Brands is owned by businessman and Mabvuku-Tafara legislator Scot Sakupwanya, who also partly bankrolls Yadah, the club which recently signed former Warriors and Kaizer Chiefs’ star Khama Billiat who was unveiled at a flamboyant ceremony at Heart Stadium.
Sakupwanya’s main line of business is dealing in gold.
The Bulawayo giants take on Dynamos at Barbourfields Stadium on Sunday, which will be major highlight of the weekend as the 2024 league season kicks off.
Although the sponsorship package could not be established, invitations have already been sent to various stakeholders for tonight’s sponsorship unveiling event. The invitation bears the Highlanders and Better Brands logos.
Highlanders’ sponsorship deal with Sakunda Holdings ended last year, but the club is optimistic the pact will be renewed.
Bosso have promoted a number of players from their juniors and the technical team have faith that they will compete.
New coach Kelvin Kaindu said the club is ready for the Sunday explosion.
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“It is one of the biggest games in the league. I think it is one of the biggest games on the continent of Africa and I thought such games should be televised across the continent. It comes in week one with so many people having many sentiments regarding why this big game should be played in the first week. A fixture is a fixture, we cannot avoid any team given to us in the first round, in the first week that we play,” Kaindu said.
“What we need is to focus on the game that is coming and the fans to come out in their numbers to support their teams as much as possible. We want to entertain them and try as much as possible to avoid any violence. Yes it is early, but this is week one, we can play any team whether it is the first round, week four or week 17; I think a fixture is a fixture.”
The Bulawayo giants are boosted by the return of veteran goalkeeper and captain Ariel Sibanda, who missed the pre-season with the rest of the team, but featured in last weekend’s friendly match against MWOS in Norton.
“In the pre-season training that we had, he got injured. We can’t go into details to discuss about the nature of his injury. We were monitoring him and I think the club assisted him in getting treatment as soon as possible and that moment he started training, he is here with us and has been able to feature in the last two friendly matches that we played and he has been attending training. He is part of the team that we have for the 2024 season,” Kaindu added.
Dynamos will also be looking for a fast start to their campaign in a season that promises a lot after their activity in the transfer market.
Despite losing out to Ngezi Platinum Stars in the Castle Challenge Cup, they remain a confident bunch as they launch a bid to win their first league title since 2014.
