Langton Nyakwenda
ALMOST six months after clinching the Central Region Division One championship, TelOne are yet to receive its prize money as the league’s sponsors are struggling financially.
TelOne won the title in November 2023, and were supposed to receive US$7,5000 on top of a ticket to the Premier Soccer League. Unfortunately, Central Region Division Soccer League’s main sponsor, Ruvimbo Funeral Assurances failed to avail the $25,000 package as outlined in the sponsorship deal. Instead, the sponsor wrote to the Central Region Division One Soccer League on December 7, outlining a payment plan that would have seen the company clear the outstanding figure by June 2024.
Ruvimbo Funeral Assurances proposed to pay the US$25,000 in three batches. They proposed to pay US$10,000 by March 15, another US$7,500 by May 15 and the same amount by June 15. It has emerged that the sponsor is yet to pay anything and TelOne are still owed their winning prize.
The WiFi Boys have already played 11 games in the top flight league. A letter written to ZIFA by the Central Region on April 30, confirmed the predicament. “Please be advised that the region has a three-year sponsorship deal with Ruvimbo Funeral Assurance Private Limited, worth $25 000, per year.
“The sponsor could not remit the sponsorship fees by end of year 2023 as had been contractually agreed, citing cash flow challenges brought by economic volatility in the country,” the letter stated. “Instead, the sponsor wrote a letter to the region committing to remit the sponsorship fees in a staggered manner between March and June 2024.
“However, to date the sponsor has not yet remitted anything to the region, but through the engagement happening between the region and the sponsor, the sponsor continues to give assurance that the funds are being mobilised and will be remitted soon.
“Note that the region has not paid any prize monies to all our member clubs that participated in the 2023 season due to delay in receiving the money from the sponsor.
“The region is continually engaging the sponsor to resolve the issue as soon as possible and is committed to all member clubs once it receives the money from the sponsor,” read the letter.
The Central Region Division One Soccer League secured a three-year sponsorship deal with Ruvimbo Funeral Assurance in January 2023. The deal is worth US$25,000 per season.
