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RUSAPE Town Council is negotiating with cigarette manufacturer, Savanna Tobacco over the possibility of the later having naming rights of Vengere Stadium.
According to a draft document between the two parties which this publication has in possession, Rusape will cede all rights to Savanna for a period of 10 years for a fee of $30 000.
If the proposed deal succeeds, Vengere will be known as Pacific Stadium or any other name from Savanna. Football agent and former journalist, George Deda is engineering the deal.
The draft document was drafted by Rusape Town Secretary, Joshua Maligwa and Savanna Tobacco head of marketing, Gerald Gumbo.
The deal, which was supposed to have been operational from March 12, failed to do so because the council had already done the renovations of the stadium to meet the minimum Premier Soccer League requirements. In the unsigned draft document Savanna was supposed to renovate the stadium.
The draft document states that whatever revenue generated by Savanna, the two parties have to share equally.
“The Municipality (council) shall partner with Savanna Tobacco as required to facilitate refurbishment, administration and operation of Vengere Stadium. Council shall cede operational and management obligations to Savanna Tobacco and allow for relevant renovations and additions at the facility.
“Council shall give Savanna Tobacco first preference for all current and future advertising opportunities under municipal control.
“The council shall cede control over all external and internal stadium commercial activities, including the right to outsource and/or subcontract specific commercial activities.
“Shall share income generated or profits from commercial activities with Savanna Tobacco at equal ratios of 50 percent each. Shall cede naming and advertising rights at the facilities to Savanna Tobacco and allow for new structures at the facilities subject to approval. Council also undertakes to pay George Deda 15 percent of this principal amount received from Savanna Tobacco as a consultation fee,” reads the draft.
In return Savanna Tobacco will do the following.
“Shall refurbish, operate and maintain the facilities in clean and usable state and shall provide swimming and other products and services to the community of Rusape. Shall adhere to international standards of safety at public stadia and shall try to make provisions for the disabled.
“Shall rename the facility Pacific Stadium or any other name as may be determined from time to time. Shall manage and operate the facilities in a business sense with a profit motive.”
A highly placed source at the local authority said a lot of issues has to be ironed out before signing the agreement as they had to be diligent before letting the stadium to a third party.
The source further said that the deal could have sailed long back if Savanna had carried the refurbishments at the stadium.
“Council will not rush to sign that document because of a number of reasons, chief among them is that we have done the repairs and additions that meets the minimum PSL requirements.
“Secondly, that agreement has to be handled by a our legal advisors not by management and councillors. There are lot of technicalities that needs expert.
“We may have to start from scratch to negotiate.
“There is also need for a review of the amount they are offering since the renovations were done by us. If they had done the renovations, the $30 000 they are proposing seems to be a fair amount,” said the source.
Online Reporter