Sports / Soccer
Zifa to sell Warriors' Puma replicas
04 Jun 2011 at 17:02hrs | Views
ZIFA will sell new Warriors' replica jerseys as part of an ambitious drive to secure a massive sponsorship deal from international kit manufacturer Puma.
After finally managing to end their useless deal with Legea, the Warriors will wear a Puma strip when they take on the Eagles of Mali in an African Cup of Nations tie at Rufaro on Sun- day.
To ensure that their fans can have the opportunity to identify with their idols, Zifa have secured a limited number of replica jerseys that will be on sale at Zifa House and on match day at designated points at Rufaro.
Zifa board member marketing Nigel Munyati said yesterday the unveiling of a Puma kit marked the beginning of a new era for the Warriors and the rest of the national teams.
Munyati said although Zifa and Puma were still to ink a long-term sponsorship deal, the two parties had agreed to have a dry run with the sale of a limited number of replica jerseys.
The Zifa board member said he was expecting representatives of Puma in the country next week to finalise a deal with the association.
"We have a limited number of jerseys and it is really just for testing on the demand from the fans.
"The jerseys will be costing US$50 each and if there is sufficient demand we will then bring in a lot more.
"In our contract discussions with Puma we are looking at the number of replicas that we can move.
"I think once we have a contract we believe with the enthusiasm in this country we can sell up to 100 000 in a year and if the team succeeds there will be even more interest.
"So even the kit that we have at the moment is a standard kit but they are going to design one specifically for Zimbabwe.
"The process of negotiating for such a sponsorship deal is not an overnight thing and it also took us a while to end the Legea deal because the nature of the contract they had gave them the first right of refusal to a renewal of the contract.
"We are glad we have cleared that now and Legea is out of the picture. We have not yet finalised with Puma but they are the front runners.
"Puma marketing executives will be in Harare next week and we hope we can settle for the sponsorship deal as you know Puma are a big company," Munyati said.
After finally managing to end their useless deal with Legea, the Warriors will wear a Puma strip when they take on the Eagles of Mali in an African Cup of Nations tie at Rufaro on Sun- day.
To ensure that their fans can have the opportunity to identify with their idols, Zifa have secured a limited number of replica jerseys that will be on sale at Zifa House and on match day at designated points at Rufaro.
Zifa board member marketing Nigel Munyati said yesterday the unveiling of a Puma kit marked the beginning of a new era for the Warriors and the rest of the national teams.
Munyati said although Zifa and Puma were still to ink a long-term sponsorship deal, the two parties had agreed to have a dry run with the sale of a limited number of replica jerseys.
The Zifa board member said he was expecting representatives of Puma in the country next week to finalise a deal with the association.
"We have a limited number of jerseys and it is really just for testing on the demand from the fans.
"The jerseys will be costing US$50 each and if there is sufficient demand we will then bring in a lot more.
"In our contract discussions with Puma we are looking at the number of replicas that we can move.
"I think once we have a contract we believe with the enthusiasm in this country we can sell up to 100 000 in a year and if the team succeeds there will be even more interest.
"So even the kit that we have at the moment is a standard kit but they are going to design one specifically for Zimbabwe.
"The process of negotiating for such a sponsorship deal is not an overnight thing and it also took us a while to end the Legea deal because the nature of the contract they had gave them the first right of refusal to a renewal of the contract.
"We are glad we have cleared that now and Legea is out of the picture. We have not yet finalised with Puma but they are the front runners.
"Puma marketing executives will be in Harare next week and we hope we can settle for the sponsorship deal as you know Puma are a big company," Munyati said.
Source - Byo24Sports
