Editorial Comment: Corporate sponsorship key to football growth

WHEN telecommunications giant, Vodacom, decided in 1998 to plunge into football sponsorship in South Africa, they went into bed with the two giants, Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates.

It’s a strong relationship which has survived the test of time, and 21 years later, the parties remain bound by this special marriage.

This has helped the Soweto giants transform themselves into two of the most powerful football clubs on the continent.

They have both reached the final of the CAF Champions League since they went into this marriage, with Pirates finishing as runners-up in 2013 and Chiefs taking the silver medal, this year.

The Amakhosi won the Cup of Cup Winners Cup in 2001, while the Buccaneers were runners-up in the Confederation Cup in 2015.

The two giants have managed, thanks to the huge financial support from Vodacom, running into billions of rand, to woo some of the best footballers from this country into their camps.

The stars include Marshall Munetsi, Terrence Dzvukamanja, Tinashe Nengomasha, Willard Katsande, Khama Billiat and Knowledge Musona.

“It is very important that we must continuously improve the product, so as to instil belief in the corporate South Africa and deliver on their commercial requirements,’’ noted Pirates chairman, Irvin Khoza.

“We will make sure that we continue to create excitement in our team and this (new deal) will go a long way towards development and reinforcing the team.

“It is important that we make sure there is excitement on the field of play for people to be able to support football in the manner that Vodacom has done.’’

There is a reason why Vodacom didn’t only put their money into Pirates, leaving Chiefs out of the equation, or into the Amakhosi, leaving the Buccaneers out of the picture.

In South African football, the Amakhosi and the Buccaneers are the heart and soul of the domestic game and they are followed by millions of fans.

So, all the time, a balancing act has to be found, when it comes to the corporate backing of these two giants because, leaving one of them out of the picture, could send the wrong signal to the other constituency.

It’s virtually the same scenario we have in this country, where Dynamos and Highlanders are the two biggest clubs, by a considerable distance, in our football.

They are the heart and soul of our domestic game and it’s a fact that, in the seasons when the two giants are doing well, local football will be in good health.

Even attendance figures, back in the years before Covid-19 struck and forced authorities to, for the meantime, bar fans from attending football matches, as part of the measures to contain the pandemic, used to spike when the two giants were doing well.

We would see full houses at our stadiums watching the domestic Premiership, with fans being lured to the grounds by the good run from Dynamos and Highlanders.

And, on the occasions when they will be doing badly, as has become the case of late, local football usually struggles to retain the spectator interest, which this game requires, for it to flourish.

We are not the only ones who face this dilemma.

Even the English Premiership, the most competitive top-flight league in the world, found itself battling to retain its huge spectator base around the globe when its biggest club, Manchester United, were struggling in 2014.

The Red Devils were 18 points behind leader Chelsea, by March 2014, having lost 10 of their 31 league matches, in a poor defence of their league title, under manager, David Moyse.

“It’s a double-edged sword,” said Richard Scudamore, who was then the Premiership chief executive.

“When your most popular club isn’t doing as well, that costs you interest and audience in some places.

“There are lots of fans around the world, who wish Manchester United were winning it again.’’

In this country, when Dynamos and Highlanders sneeze, the entire domestic Premiership also catches a cold.

And that Bosso have not won the championship for 15 years now hasn’t helped matters in terms of the league’s appeal.

The Glamour Boys haven’t won the championship for seven years now.

The reason for that is simple, in an environment where some well-resourced, and better managed clubs have come on board, to challenge for the crown, the two giants have found it difficult, if not impossible, to keep pace.

Without the financial backing of the challengers, Dynamos and Highlanders have found that the game has changed significantly and they can’t bank on their reputation, and size, for them to challenge for honours.

That is why we have been charmed by the coming on board of Sakunda Holdings to bail out the two giants by providing them with the sponsorship they need to start competing with the challengers on an equal footing.

That a wholly Zimbabwean company has found it necessary to come in and support these two football institutions shows once again that we can, using our resources, confront the challenges which have been weighing us down.

For Sakunda Holdings to have the foresight that they could not bankroll Dynamos, without doing the same for Highlanders, also shows maturity on the part of the company’s leaders, who were clearly inspired by the need to unite, rather than divide, our national game.

The challenge is now on the two giants to use their resources wisely so that they wake up from their slumber and, like Chiefs and Pirates, start to flex their muscles once again on the continent.

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