Corporate sector challenged to investing in soccer

MARONDERA- Zifa Mashonaland East chairman Oscar Tsvuura says there is need for the corporate
world to seriously consider partnering football teams in the province to strengthen the game’s
prospects.
Tsvuura’s appeal comes at a time the future is looking bleak for most teams in the province’s
Division 2 league amid reports that the majority of them failed to fulfill even half of their fixtures this
season.
So numerous were games whose results were determined with walk-overs in the boardroom that
some of the statistics on the log did not reflect the actual picture on the ground.
“As a province, our football is crying out for sponsorship because without financial backing, teams
can not reach their potential. As the Zifa leadership, we have been trying our best to engage various
flagship companies and even successful individual and appeal to them to consider backing our
teams.
“They even have the option of forming their own teams and play a part in developing the game. The
good thing about this is the fact that apart from playing roles in football development as a way of
corporate-social responsibility, they will be boosting the impact of their brands,” Tsvuura said.
He added that while some teams folded even before the league marathon had reached the half way
stage, more were likely to follow suit if sponsors do not come their rescue.
Meanwhile the unbranded league is currently being led by FC Hunters which is sponsored by Andrew
Gore, a successful farmer from Marondera.
Gore’s team is likely to clinch the league championship and it could be sweet news in the ears of
football followers from the provincial capital as he promised that he will use Rudhaka Stadium as his
team’s home turf once it earns the ticket to join the Eastern Region Division 1 league.
Teams from Mashonaland East, Manicaland and Masvingo make up the Division 1 league, whose
championship was clinched by Green Fuel this season.