NETONE has come to the aid of the financially-troubled Zifa, with the mobile network operator set to unveil a sponsorship package for the Warriors tomorrow, ahead of the national football team’s trip to Gabon early next month for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) finals.
BY HENRY MHARA
Official details of the package could not be obtained, but sources yesterday told NewsDaySport that NetOne would release over half a million dollars to bankroll the Warriors’ campaign.
The money will take care of the team’s airfares and players’ allowances.
Zifa president, Philip Chiyangwa earlier this month, told a Press conference to mark his one year anniversary as the mother body’s boss, that he had secured a sponsor to finance the team at Afcon.
He, however, refused to reveal the identity of the sponsor then.
NetOne spokesperson, John Nyashanu yesterday confirmed that the package would be announced tomorrow.
The mobile network operator had by yesterday started sending invitation cards for the unveiling ceremony, to be held at a local hotel tomorrow morning, to football stakeholders.
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“I can confirm that, indeed, we have been holding deliberations with authorities from the football mother body. Full details of the sponsorship package will be unveiled at the ceremony,” Nyashanu said.
This is not the first time NetOne has come to the rescue of Zifa and the Warriors in their time of need.
In September, the company paid $68 000 towards the securing of a charter flight to ferry the Warriors to Guinea for their last Afcon qualifier.
NetOne chipped in after Zifa had failed to secure seats for the team to travel to Conakry.
Had the Warriors failed to fulfil their last fixture, they would have been disqualified despite having already qualified for the finals.
The company has also previously ploughed huge sums of money into local football, sponsoring a Premier Soccer League knockout tournament.
In 2014, they injected $75 000 into women’s football.
The latest deal comes as good news to the Warriors, who are expected to troop into camp this week to start preparations for the Gabon finals.
Zifa survived on gate-takings and businessman Wicknell Chivayo’s handouts for the Warriors’ camping, travel costs and allowances during the qualifiers, where they played against Swaziland, Malawi and Guinea.
The arrival of a corporate sponsor at least guarantees the players’ welfare, which could be a motivating factor for the team.
The Warriors are expected to leave for Ivory Coast on Friday for a friendly match against The Elephants on Boxing Day.
With most foreign-based players likely to join camp after the Christmas holiday, coach Kalisto Pasuwa will use the match to assess locally-based players, who could make the final Afcon squad.
A 23-member squad made up of mainly local-based players, as well as Sweden-based Tinotenda Kadewere as the only foreign-based player on the list, will travel to Abidjan for the match.
Another friendly against hosts Gabon is set for January 5 before they conclude their preparations with a match against Cameroon in Yaoundé five days later.
Zimbabwe, who are in Group B, will begin their campaign with a clash against Riyad Mahrez’s Algeria on January 15 at the Stade de Franceville, Franceville, before taking on Sadio Mane’s Senegal at the same venue four days later.
They close their campaign with a match against Tunisia on January 23.
