adminFrom Paul Mundandi in CHIREDZI
TROUBLED Premier Soccer League debutants Chiredzi’s financial woes could soon be over if indications about strong sponsorships deals between the club and two companies are anything to go by.It has emerged that Chiredzi are on the verge of clinching lucrative sponsorship deals with Air Namibia and an as yet unnamed Zimbabwe-based network company.
The tell-tale signs of the looming deal were also revealed that by the fact that Chiredzi wore Air Namibian T-shirts for their warm-up for their Premiership home game against Dynamos at Chishamiso yesterday.
Chiredzi coach Moses Chunga has also been driving the bid to secure funding for the project which was built from the ashes of 2013 Eastern region Division One champions Hippo Valley.
Although the finer details of the packages are still to be made public, The Herald has it on good authority that the Air Namibia deal in particular is now imminent.
Air Namibia country manager for Zimbabwe Forbes Zaranyika also confirmed that they were in talks with Chiredzi with a view to funding them this season.
It also emerged that some funds have already been injected into the Chiredzi coffers.
Chiredzi are currently second from bottom on the Premiership log standings but their woeful start to life in the top-flight league has largely been attributed to the financial problems dogging the project.
“We are still evaluating the proposal after they approached us and we understood their plea. We are still reviewing the sponsorship package as we feel it has to make economic sense to us and must be a win-win for both parties”
“They have a huge potential. We want them to carry the spirit of Air Namibia and we believe in their community. They are the most needful team which needs urgent help and as an organisation we are happy that Chunga has the potential to identify talent and he is very shrewd,” said Zaranyika.
The airline also appears to have been charmed by Chunga’s work ethic and his love for identifying and nurturing raw talent as they spoke highly of him.
Zaranyika, who also administered the now defunct former Premiership side Air Zimbabwe Jets, also spoke of Chunga’s brave decisions to keep faith in young players.
“If Lionel Messi was Zimbabwean he would have started playing at 25, but Chunga can easily throw young players in the arena the likes of Tafadzwa (Rusike) Samson (Choruwa) are some of his products and we want him to continue with his shrewdness no wonder our coming in,’’ Zara- nyika said.
Online Reporter