adminTinomuda Chakanyuka Sunday News Reporter
ABOUT six months after the cat was killed by an American dentist Walter Palmer in Hwange National Park, his legacy might have just grown bigger, spreading into spheres least expected. While Cecil’s death was naturally mourned among animal conservationists and many alike, it may have never occurred that the cat’s demise would gain any recognition among British football fans.
Well, it has. The English Premier League (EPL) is set to remove the traditional iconic lion from its logo and the move has not only irked football fans in London, but has also evoked among them memories of Zimbabwe’s iconic lion, Cecil.
Britain’s tabloid The Sun last week reported that Premier League bosses were set to replace the hugely successful crowned lion image on their logo from the beginning of next season.
The move has not gone down well with British football fans, with many taking to twitter to vent their anger and disgust.
With long-term sponsors Barclays coming to the end of their deal, EPL leadership is reported to have decided to go without one main sponsor, instead receiving a wad of cash from a host of secondary rights partners.
Due to this decision, a creative agency will be appointed to overhaul the Premier League’s branding, and the lion will be one of the first things to change.
Some football fans, notwithstanding their apparent disgust at the move, wittily equated the removal of the iconic lion from the EPL logo to the killing of Cecil in July last year.
One football fan Hayden using twitter handle @HaydenFosterr tweeted “First Cecil now the premier league lion, when will this needless slaughter stop? #JusticeForLions”.
Hayden followed up his tweet adding “The @premierleague just won’t be the same without the lion on the logo. Oh well, guess it’s going to be a matter of getting used to it”.
Sunil Parmar whose handle is @Sunil_YG30 responded by sending condolence message to the Zimbabwean cat with his tweet, “RIP Cecil the Premier League Lion. You will be missed”.
Louis Heidensohn under twitter handle @louisheidensohn, mourned as if the lion being removed from the logo was a live one.
“When will the inhumanity end? RIP to the Premier League lion,” he tweeted.
Cecil, an iconic lion valued at about $20 000, was killed by American dentist-cum-hunter Palmer on 1 July 2015 at a farm in Hwange in Matabeleland North. Palmer allegedly wounded the lion with a crossbow before killing it with a rifle approximately 40 hours later. The American dentist allegedly paid $50 000 to track and shoot Cecil with the aid of two locals, professional hunter Theodro Bronkhorst and farmer Honest Trymore Ndlovu on whose property the crime allegedly took place.
Palmer, who has received worldwide condemnation from animal activists across the world, said he was unaware that the lion was protected.
The killing drew international media attention and sparked wide-spread outrage from animal conservationists, politicians and celebrities from across the globe. Cecil, who was 13 at the time of his killing, had a distinctive black mane and was being tracked by Oxford University as part of research project dating back to 1999.
Online Reporter