adminLimukani Ncube Off the ball
FOR a very long time, sports administrators across the country have clamoured for the creation of a Sports ministry separate from education.Their argument was anchored on that education would always get the first priority in terms of allocation of resources because most people regard sport as an after thought, when in actual fact it is now an industry employing thousands if not millions of Zimbabweans. In fact, some of the richest people in the world, including Zimbabwe, are sports personalities. The same can be said of arts and culture — talk of musicians and actors.
Their prayers were finally answered when President Mugabe appointed a Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture on Tuesday. Insiza North Member of the House of Assembly Andrew Langa was appointed Minister and will be deputised by Thabetha Malinga Kanengoni.
There was a lot of excitement from sports associations and rightfully so, arts and culture practitioners were also elated as they now have a ministry where they will take their concerns to. I say concerns because both sports persons and artistes have always been saying their concerns were not being addressed because their parent ministry had a full plate.
Nonetheless, the creation of the ministry alone will not guarantee success in the sports fields and performance venues for artistes as well for those in literary arts and sculpture. The ministry will only assist in coming up with national policies that should usher a new chapter in sport and culture, and also create favourable conditions for individuals and corporate bodies that want to partner with sports associations.
What sports associations should always remember is that they have products to sell to the public and the corporate sector so as to get financial support and those products should be well packaged to attract buyers. In addition, there should be return on investment on any company that chooses to sponsor the rugby national team, it should not just be a case of “ploughing back to the community”, but a case of investing in the sport with the company also getting some benefits one way or the other.
Andrés Thompson, the general manager of Streetfootballworld in Brazil, put across a few interesting points online about how the ministry in Brazil had lured sponsors into sport as well as arts and culture. What stands out in his writing is that there is support in terms of legislation where companies that pour money into sport and cultural activities get tax rebates.
“Whether tax incentives for promoting private social investment and philanthropy are a useful tool or not has been a matter of debate and controversy in recent years in Latin America and beyond. The case of Brazil shows that tax incentives have great potential but with many implications that require us to look beyond the money involved.
Economists and observers of the world of philanthropy and social investment worldwide usually have a very positive view of the role of tax incentives to increase the size of corporate and individual giving for non-profit organisations.
These mechanisms are under permanent scrutiny and improvement in most “developed” countries. But does the same apply for “developing” countries? Beyond increasing the size of giving, what are the other implications behind these incentive laws?
“Regarding tax incentives for donations, there are also several laws and mechanisms in place with focus on arts and culture; children and youth; the elderly; and sports.
For sports in particular, under Law 11,438/06 ruled by Decree nº 6 180/07 (‘Lei do Incentivo ao Esporte’), projects approved by the Ministry of Sports can receive sponsorships and donations from companies and individuals, although all projects must be approved by a Technical Commission from the Ministry before receiving donations or sponsorships.
Individuals may — totally or partially — deduct the amount invested from their income tax up to a limit of six percent, and companies may deduct up to a limit of one percent or up to six percent in culture.”
Those in the world of sports management will know that successful sponsorship relationships require significant investment and commitment from both parties. The sponsor is required to contribute monetary resources, management time, and support leverage activity.
The sports organisation, in turn, is required to provide the service, structures and systems to ensure the sponsor receives good value.
A journal on sport sponsorship securing and retaining commercial partners in New Zealand, points out to four key ideas that guide sport associations and cultural organisations with their sponsors.
It says; “sponsorship is a business relationship between a provider of funds, resources or services and an individual, event or organisation that offers rights and association that may be used for commercial advantage in return for the sponsorship investment.
Secondly, investing in a sport sponsorship is only one of an increasingly wide range of marketing opportunities businesses and funders can invest in. Thirdly, sponsorship should be approached as a partnership. To be successful, each party needs to understand the drivers and objectives of the other, and contribute to their partner’s success.
And lastly, responsibility for the success of a commercial partnership lies with the sports body. There are many sports properties to be sponsored, but a good sponsor is hard to find and keep.”
This suggests that one of the biggest challenges ahead is for the sports and cultural bodies to convince the minister that there is need to pass legislation that will give incentives to would be sponsors, that way, more companies and even those that are struggling, can attempt to channel their money to sports hoping to get some benefits when paying tax, and that case, the government will be actually funding sport, arts and culture indirectly.
That way, we can avoid cases of individuals running associations from their pockets. And with sponsorship and sound policies; corruption and cronyism in our sport will be a thing of the past.
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