Sports / Soccer
Econet won't come back into Zim football
11 Apr 2014 at 11:01hrs | Views
Zimbabwe's largest mobile telecommunication company, Econet Wireless Zimbabwe Limited (Econet), has maintained it will not return to sponsor football in the near future due to "other pressing national issues."
Douglas Mboweni, Econet's group chief executive, yesterday told Parliamentarians during a tour of the company's operations in Harare that the listed firm was currently focusing on other important issues such as funding the education and health sectors of the country.
"I recently took the matter to our board asking them if it was time we went back into soccer and they said we first have to exhaust assisting people who are in need, such as orphans who have no access to education as well as patients that seek medical treatment," Mboweni told the legislatures who had enquired if the communication giant will answer the call to bail out the country's most popular sport.
"So until such a time that my board revises such a position there is nothing that we as management can do."
Econet in 2005 terminated its five-year contract as the Premier Soccer League (PSL) sponsor following a dispute with rivals NetOne, who were then bankrolling club side CAPS United.
The publicity surrounding the feud was hurting the company's corporate image, Econet claimed at the time.
The latest proclamation from Econet will come as a big blow for the seriously underfunded Zimbabwean football sector.
The PSL, in particular, had been hoping to add on to what the league already gets from official sponsor Delta Beverages.
Delta recently renewed its sponsorship of the Zimbabwean top-flight, which will see the league get a total $1,2 million per season for three years, up from $600 000 from the last three years.
Football administrators and government have appealed to the corporate world for more funding, but years of maladministration and bad press in football have dented the game's corporate appeal and drove away potential sponsors.
Douglas Mboweni, Econet's group chief executive, yesterday told Parliamentarians during a tour of the company's operations in Harare that the listed firm was currently focusing on other important issues such as funding the education and health sectors of the country.
"I recently took the matter to our board asking them if it was time we went back into soccer and they said we first have to exhaust assisting people who are in need, such as orphans who have no access to education as well as patients that seek medical treatment," Mboweni told the legislatures who had enquired if the communication giant will answer the call to bail out the country's most popular sport.
"So until such a time that my board revises such a position there is nothing that we as management can do."
Econet in 2005 terminated its five-year contract as the Premier Soccer League (PSL) sponsor following a dispute with rivals NetOne, who were then bankrolling club side CAPS United.
The latest proclamation from Econet will come as a big blow for the seriously underfunded Zimbabwean football sector.
The PSL, in particular, had been hoping to add on to what the league already gets from official sponsor Delta Beverages.
Delta recently renewed its sponsorship of the Zimbabwean top-flight, which will see the league get a total $1,2 million per season for three years, up from $600 000 from the last three years.
Football administrators and government have appealed to the corporate world for more funding, but years of maladministration and bad press in football have dented the game's corporate appeal and drove away potential sponsors.
Source - dailynews
