Zimpapers Logo

Petros Kausiyo and Farirai Machivenyika
GOVERNMENT could finally unveil a raft of tax incentives that could lure more corporate support for sport and spur growth in several sporting disciplines across the country.
The Ministry of Sport, Arts and Culture revealed yesterday that they will propose tax incentives for companies that sponsor sport in a policy document that is expected to be launched in the first quarter of next year.

This was said by the ministry’s Deputy Minister, Tabitha Kanengoni while responding to a question by Tapiwa Matangaidze on Government policy in reviving the fortunes of sport in the country.

Matangaidze, a former Premier Soccer League chairman, is now the Member of Parliament for Shurugwi South, and has indicated that he would try to use his presence in the August house to push for reforms and growth in the national sports.

“Government contributions from Treasury cannot be expected to be 100 percent for sporting needs. In other countries it is between 30 and 40 percent.

“The Government therefore has an obligation to create a conducive environment to attract sponsors.
“It is with this view that my ministry will be proposing tax incentives that sponsor sport, arts and any cultural activities,” she said.
Kanengoni said they were carrying out consultations among various stakeholders to come up with a holistic sports policy which will be completed next year.

She said some of the issues her ministry was looking at to raise revenue for sponsoring sporting and cultural activities include lobbying Government to deduct a fee from proceeds of lotteries and granting them a casino licence.

She proposed that sporting, arts and cultural activities equipment be imported into the country duty-                    free.
Government is currently seized with requests for funding from various national associations that have submitted their bids through the Sport and Recreation Commission.

Cash-strapped Zifa are among some of the major associations that are banking on the Government to fund the national teams’ activities.
Zifa are struggling to secure funding for the Warriors preparations for the African Nations Championships in South Africa early next month.
The Warriors, who will begin their preparations for the CHAN tournament with a date against fellow finalists Mozambique in an international friendly at Barbourfields on Sunday, are hoping to have at least 20 days of intensive training.

Ian Gorowa’s men will be the top seeds in Group B which also includes Burkina Faso, Morocco and Uganda.
But with camp for the CHAN expected to go a gear up after the friendly against the Mambas, it is the lack of funding that has left the Warriors technical crew worried about whether they will have adequately prepared by the time they get their campaign underway at the tournament with a clash against Morocco at Athlone Stadium in Cape Town on January 12.

Gorowa had wanted to take his charges to South Africa for their training camp but Zifa who will stage a fund-raising dinner in Harare tonight have failed to secure the US$100 000 which the Warriors would need for their proposed training camp in Swaziland.
Zifa chief executive Jonathan Mashingaidze indicated that corporate support had been hard to come by for his association which had left them pinning their main hopes on government funding for the Warriors training camp as well assistance to fly to Cape Town via Johannesburg.
The Warriors will apart from Mozambique also play against Gabon in Johannesburg in their final warm-up match on January 7 before they head to their base in Cape Town.

Mashingaidze insisted yesterday that although they would have wanted the Warriors to undergo the kind of training regime their coach had planned for them in Johannesburg, South Africa, Zifa had been forced to operate in tight budgetary environment that would largely depend on what the Government would give them.

“Everything will depend on what the Government says on the budget that we have submitted to them but the Government has already indicated that they do not have money at the moment. Budgets have since been submitted to the ministry through the office of the SRC director-general (Charles Nhemachena).

“In view of this development Zifa cannot finance a training camp outside of the country’s borders even though it is the association’s wish to grant the coach everything that he wants in terms of his grand plan for preparations for preparations for the CHAN tournament,’’ Mashingaidze said.

The Warriors were expected to assemble in Bulawayo last night to begin their preparations for the clash against Mozambique who are scheduled to fly straight to Bulawayo via Johannesburg and arrive this afternoon.

Mozambique have also qualified for the CHAN tournament and are in a tough Group A, which features hosts South Africa, Nigeria and Mali.
The Mambas will face Bafana Bafana in the tournament’s opening match at Cape Town Stadium on January                       11.
Although the Sports Commission and many of their affiliate associations such as Zifa, Zimbabwe Cricket and the National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe might be struggling for funding for their national programmes, revelations by deputy Minister Kanengoni that new policies are being lined up to stimulate growth of sport in the country through increased corporate financial support should be sweet music to the ears of such administrators like Peter Chingoka, Tendai Tagara, Mashingaidze and Nhemachena.