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Netone building

FOR much of the last five years, Zimbabwean football had become the laughing stock of the country’s sporting associations as ZIFA barely managed to attract any sponsorship to fund their activities.But in the year that Philip Chiyangwa has been in charge of the debt-ridden football body, winds of change have swept across the administrative corridors of ZIFA.

Chiyangwa first announced his arrival on the football scene by clinching a deal with businessman, Wicknell Chivayo, who agreed to take over the upkeep of the senior national soccer team coach, occasionally paid the players’ bonuses and various incentives and purchased vehicles for the Warriors and Mighty Warriors coaches respectively.

Chivayo also leapt to the rescue of ZIFA when he paid a long-standing debt owed to Belgian Tom Saintfiet in a move that ensured that Zimbabwe avoided a second FIFA ban from participating in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.

ZIFA with Chiyangwa steering the ship did not rest on their laurels after finally tasting the sweet sense of sponsorship and this week the Harare property mogul clinched an important deal with mobile service provider NetOne who will splash $250 000 for the Warriors’ 2017 African Cup of Nations campaign.

The NetOne sponsorship is just the tonic the Warriors needed as they prepare to go into camp in preparation for the AFCON tournament that will run in Gabon from January 14 to February 5.

We congratulate NetOne for seeing the value in supporting the people’s sport through the country’s flagship team and we urge the entire nation to rally behind coach Callisto Pasuwa and his men as they fly the nation’s flag in Gabon.

The Government must also be commended for facilitating through the Ministry of Information Communication and Technology, Postal and Courier Services.

We would also like to thank Minister Supa Mandiwanzira for facilitating the NetOne sponsorship deal with ZIFA.

First it was Chivayo and now NetOne has also set the pace for other corporates to follow suit and embrace ZIFA as a partner worth doing business with.

We urge ZIFA to jealously guard the package they have received from NetOne and to crucially preserve the relationship they have entered into with the mobile network company.

It is also gratifying to note that Chiyangwa has clearly spelt out that the sponsorship deal they struck with NetOne will not go towards the servicing of the huge debt pegged at around $6 million that had crippled operations at ZIFA.

Instead, Chiyangwa wants the money from NetOne to be paid directly to the service providers such as Air Zimbabwe and hotels and food suppliers.

The players’ bonuses and appearances fees will also be paid directly from the NetOne package which is a show of transparency on the part of the Chiyangwa leadership.

It is against this background that companies with the capacity to fund football should not shy away from ZIFA, but can also adopt the national Under-15, Under-17, Under-20 and Under-23 squads for both men and women that are crying out loud for support.

The success story of any sport is anchored on a strong junior development policy and ZIFA should not be as aggressive in looking for sponsorship for the development programmes as they have been with the Warriors and Mighty Warriors.

Now that the Government and NetOne have shown the way, we hope this a dawn of a new era for the domestic game that needs more capital injection to help football become the huge industry it has grown to be elsewhere in the world.

With the commendable gesture shown by NetOne, the Warriors will now go into camp knowing that the onus is upon them to deliver in Gabon as they would not have to go on strike to press for bonuses and allowances.

It is the show of unity between the corporate world and sport that can only drive Zimbabwe to greater heights.