Tshepo Molwane
30 October 2008
After the disappointment from Monhumutapa African Broadcasting Corporation (MABC), the Premier League Committee (PLC) have reason to smile again after clinching a three-year P12m sponsorship deal with new cellphone company, Be Mobile.
This is a massive improvement from the P4.5m which cellphone giant Mascom availed to sponsor the league in the last three years. However, it is much less than the P65 million offered by the failed deal with MABC.
Information reaching Mmegi Sport indicates that the terms of the new deal have been agreed and all that is left is to put pen to paper. "Without doubt, it will be finalised this week.
"They do not want to launch before signing. At the moment, we are finalising out details of the sponsorship," said an inside source at PLC. The source said Be Mobile wants to expand its client base hence it decided to pump money into football.
"This is not a donation. It is a business deal. They have promised that if they are impressed by the growth during the term of the sponsorship, they will raise the amount.
"At the moment, Be Mobile already has around 12,000 clients and want to use football to reach the 200,000 target. So it is up to us the football fraternity to help them reach their target," the said.
Mmegi Sport has been informed that the prize-money for the champions will increase to at least P500,000. Botswana Television is expected to pay P5m for TV rights over the same period.
The source denied claims by MABC chairman, Oscar Kubara, that they still have a deal. Though PLC chairman Mike Molefe said on national radio on Monday that they have parted ways with MABC, Kubara has been quoted saying that he is in Turkey and will be coming tomorrow to continue with the agreement his company has with PLC.
"We did not have anything signed, it was just an agreement of intent. They were given a certain period to have concluded the deal but they failed. To be honest, they (MABC) are just saving face from the media," said the source.
Meanwhile, Botswana Football Association (BFA) president David Fani released a press statement yesterday confirming that they have found a new sponsor.
"The parties are now thrashing out details of the sponsorship with a view of signing the sponsorship agreement within a matter of days.
"The BFA National Executive Committee, Premier League and new sponsor have agreed that, in accordance with the BFA constitution and play rules and regulations, the Premier League games played so far are not affected by the sponsorship position and are therefore valid and will constitute part of the Premier League games for the 2008-2009 football season. The parties have further agreed that Premier League games will adjourn for a brief period to enable the new sponsor to address logistical issues in preparation for the official launch of the sponsorship on a date to be advised soon," Fani said in a statement.
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