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Eddie Chikamhi Senior Sports Reporter

THE Sports and Recreation Commission chairman, Gerald Mlotshwa, yesterday said FBC Holdings’ sponsorship of the Warriors at the African Cup of Nations tournament should spur the corporate world to seriously consider partnering with domestic football.

The financial services institution yesterday handed over US$35 000 to players and officials in honour of the pledges that they had made to the Warriors when the team was in Cameroon for the African Cup of Nations finals.

FBC Group chief executive officer, John Mushayavanhu, handed over the money to the few players and officials that attended the function and to ZIFA on behalf of most of the foreign-based professionals that have already returned to their bases.

The function was graced by representatives from the Ministry of Youth, Sports, Arts and Recreation, the Sports Commission chairman Mlotshwa and his team, members of the ZIFA secretariat led by acting chief executive officer, Xolisani Gwesela, the association’s technical director Wilson Mutekede, Warriors team manager Wellington Mpandare and coach Norman Mapeza.  

Mlotshwa said the Sports Commission was excited by the commitment shown by FBC Holdings. He said the gesture should be a sign of better things to come in domestic football, which has been struggling to lure the corporate world to its side.

“FBC Holdings, at an incredibly short notice managed to come up with this sponsorship deal. I know technically it comes to an end after today’s proceedings,” said Mlotshwa.

“But I just hope that what Dr Mushayavanhu and FBC Holdings have done in leading the way in so far as corporate support of a game like football in this country will inspire other corporates out there to say FBC can’t just be there for the sake of it.

“We all know who FBC is as a financial institution. They are a leader in this market and I hope this leadership that you have shown attracts further corporate sponsorship into football.

“I think this is very much appreciated, it’s exciting and, like I keep saying, I hope it’s the start of good things for football in this country,” said Mlotshwa.

FBC Holdings dangled US$1 000 bonuses each to the Warriors for every game they would win at the AFCON tournament. They had also pledged 27 houses (worth US$60 000 each) to the players and four members of the technical team if the Warriors had brought the AFCON Cup home.

Mushayavanhu made the announcement ahead of Zimbabwe’s second game at the tournament against Malawi, which Zimbabwe unfortunately lost 1-2.

Mapeza’s men later made up for the loss when they beat Guinea by the same margin in their last group game. The win, however, came a little bit late as Zimbabwe finished bottom of the group with three points.

Mushayavanu said FBC Holdings’ intervention was aligned to their sustainable corporate social investment strategy where they give back to the communities that they serve.

“I am a very happy man today because what we are gathered here for is a noble cause,” said Mushayavanhu.

“It is a noble cause in the sense that as FBC Holdings, when the AFCON tournament started we sat down and said to ourselves, is there anything that we can do to spur the Warriors into action and to produce their best?

“And in that respect we decided we will then come up with a package to incentivise the team. That package included US$1 000 for every win and we then said if you bring the AFCON Cup home you will get houses.

“Unfortunately, the Warriors were not here when the announcement was made but we did ask the team from the SRC to send pictures of the houses.

“However, things did not quite go as we had envisaged. Yes, the Warriors exhibited spirited performance in their match against Senegal.

“That is actually the match that prompted us as FBC Holdings to act and I remembered on the day that I actually said the Warriors are going to win 2-0 against Malawi because I could see a very committed team. But Football being football, it didn’t happen the way we expected it.

“Nonetheless, you didn’t come home empty-handed. You won against Guinea and because of that we are going to honour our pledge and we are here today to hand over the cash to the players and technical team. The amount that we are paying out today is US$35 000.”

Mushayavanhu indicated that FBC Holdings could be considering future partnerships with football.

“Some of you said we are the ones who put pressure on the Warriors to the extent that they eventually lost against Malawi, I would like to beg to differ.

“Actually I would like to say that because of the sponsorship, this is what spurred them to win against Guinea. We appreciate that there will always be people who see negativity when there is positivity. But as FBC Holdings we are happy to be here to honour our pledge and to serve the Warriors.

“To the Warriors, you achieved two very important things at AFCON. First of all, the mere fact that you qualified for AFCON means that in Africa you are a force to reckon with and secondly, the fact that you won against Guinea means that you are not a team that can just be relegated.

“So we look forward to you going further as we go into AFCON 2023. We know that you can do it and I think this time we will be announcing our sponsorship in good time so that as you are preparing you will know that this is what is in store for us.” Mushayavanhu