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SAKUNDA Holdings committed themselves to another three years of their marriage with Dynamos and Highlanders, the country’s two biggest and most successful football clubs.
The deal will see the company pouring another US$5,3m into the coffers of the two giants for the next three years.
We have already seen the impact that the sponsorship has had at the two giants in the past few years.
Highlanders led the championship race throughout the first half of the season last year and would have been full value for their first league championship since 2006.
However, at a crucial stage of the campaign, the head of their then head coach, Baltemar Brito, was turned when ZIFA came calling and lured him to take over as the Warriors coach.
This was a big distraction for Brito who, from that moment, appeared to be a man who was desperate to land the Warriors job rather than take Bosso to the Promised Land.
Everyone who has been involved in coaching football, in some capacity, will tell you that focus is everything and Highlanders suffered once Brito started flirting with ZIFA.
Dynamos won their first piece of major silverware in nine years last year when they secured the Chibuku Super Cup after beating the league champions Ngezi Platinum in their backyard at Baobab.
That represented a giant leap for the Glamour Boys who have been a pale shadow of their dominant self in the past decade in which they have been trying, and failing, to win the championship.
The good thing about sound sponsorship is that it creates a stable environment at a football club.
But, while Highlanders are largely stable, when it comes to their boardroom, Dynamos are a symbol of instability and generally have been creating more negative headlines than the positive ones.
The ugly fight for the ownership of Dynamos, which has been going on for years, continues to this day and it has resulted in the board chairman Bernard Marriot being dragged to court on fraud charges.
Those who are fighting Marriot claim that he stole the shares from others and gave himself a controlling shareholding stake of 51 percent and turned Dynamos into his personal property.
He rejects those claims and insists he deserves what he has got because he is the last man standing among those who founded Dynamos.
On Thursday, when Sakunda unveiled the kits for Dynamos and Highlanders, they were very clear on their expectations and that controversy was something they did not expect.
“There are a number of ingredients that we believe as Sakunda go into the good of football and the success of the game in this country,” said company secretary Maurice Makoni.
“Among them would be efficient and competent administration of the game, good corporate governance, simple love for the game, hard work and unity of purpose among the stakeholders.
“There’s need for normalcy and quietness in both the cockpit and on the football pitch.”
The message is LOUD AND CLEAR.
Online Reporter
