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SPORT plays an important role in communities .Apart from keeping athletes fit and healthy, it also keeps the young away from crime. We see a growing number of youth engaged in sport and arts and it is quite encouraging that many are now slowly but surely earning reasonable incomes from their talents.
It is, therefore, a great source of worry that sponsorship challenges continue to dog many sporting organisations and arts institutions that have provided many of our youth with employment. In Bulawayo we have had football clubs folding in the past few years from the days of AmaZulu, Bantu Rovers, How Mine and we get worried, not only as Bulawayo residents and ratepayers, but as families and dependants, that things are not well at Bulawayo City. Our worry is that the problems being faced at the team seem to be similar to the symptoms exhibited by the other teams that have since folded.
In this edition, we carry a story on the cost-cutting measures being implemented at Highlanders, another Bulawayo team, where the club has now decided to abandon camping for home games. Also in the premier league, Yadah FC is on the market as its proprietor has indicated that he would rather have some other investor take over and Mushowani Stars is also facing financial challenges. We believe these all point to a need for new sponsorship models by the clubs and even their current financiers. Even for clubs that enjoy ‘‘healthy’’ sponsorships, the economic problems and inflationary pressures have rendered the sponsorship insufficient as it cannot keep up with the rising costs.
We are aware that the Government has implemented austerity measures but also indicated that it would cater for the vulnerable through safety nets. We have seen the introduction of subsidised transport in urban areas. Our fear, however, is that as companies struggle to stay afloat, sport and the arts may be sacrificed in the process and it is our hope that the Government arms charged with overseeing these portfolios will make recommendations that will assist the State rescue these entities. It may not take the form of sponsoring individual entities but policy reforms that encourage more sponsorship through solid tax incentives, or other incentives.
Online Reporter