The Standard
By Albert Marufu
23 September 2012
SOUTH Africa’s supreme sports controlling body, Sports and Recreation South Africa (SRSA), have been invited to present a paper on how to lure sponsorship into sport at the football indaba to be held in Harare on Wednesday.
The indaba, where Asiagate and financing local football are expected to top the agenda, was called by Education, Sport, Arts and Culture minister David Coltart.
Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC) director-general, Charles Nhemachena said they had invited SRSA, which is their equivalent, to share ideas on how Zimbabwe could lure the corporate world to pour money into sport.
Though talent is abundant in Zimbabwe, the country is in dire need of sponsors, which is exactly the opposite of what is happening down south where corporates fall over each other to support sport.
“Sport is big business in South Africa with the corporate world playing a huge role. That is the reason we have invited our counterparts, SRSA to share with us on how they do it that side. SRSA will present a paper on the incentives they offer the corporate world and I am sure that will help us in a big way,†he said.
Though sponsors are coming into Zimbabwean sport, with companies such as Mbada Diamonds, Marange Resources, Delta, and other financial institutions chipping in, the rate has been slow.
Only last month, the national Under 20 soccer team failed to fulfill a national assignment owing to lack of resources, while Team Zimbabwe performed dismally at the London 2012 games largely because of poor preparations.
However, it is the Asiagate that is likely to top the indaba’s agenda with the final report expected to be released.
The report was due last month, but the Justice Ahmed Ebrahim-led independent committee doing the investigations decided they had to interview an extra eight witnesses before judgement could be handed down.
The report is expected to clear or impose bans on some of the players and officials fingered in the scandal.
Players who will have been cleared might feature in Zimbabwe’s penultimate 2013 Afcon qualifier against Angola, which is on next month.