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Mehluli Sibanda, Senior Sports Reporter
IN yet another achievement for the Manchester United Supporters Zimbabwe Chapter will be hosting the DHL United DELIVERED match in Masvingo on Saturday.
The United DELIVERED match is an open event that is hosted worldwide for Manchester United supporters and is sponsored by the club’s logistics partner DHL. It is the second time this year that Manchester United Zimbabwe Supporters Chapter will be conducting this event, with the first having to take place in Harare in February. For such an event, DHL will provide the match ball and the kits will come straight from Old Trafford.
Shepherd Kamuruko, the Manchester United Zimbabwe Supporters Chapter chairperson indicated that the venue for the event is yet to be decided on, with Mucheke Stadium likely to be the location. Kamuruko said they feel privileged as a supporters chapter to be given this opportunity for the second time this year.
“As a supporters club and the rest of the fans we feel honoured and as a country it’s a great opportunity to keep on flying the national flag high. We believe through this event we can promote sports tourism in the country and by so doing setting the precedence for the future to invite Manchester United Football Club in the country,’’ Kamuruko said.
On the reason for choosing Masvingo, Kamuruko pointed out that their desire was to appreciate the efforts made by Masvingo-based Manchester United fans who recently formed a branch.
“It happens that for the second time in 2019 Zimbabwe has been chosen to host the event and this time it is in Masvingo, to give them a full appreciation of what the club stands for which is uniting all the MUFC supporters in the country.”
According to Kamuruko, Masvingo have displayed high levels of devotion with the national committee deciding to reward them for that.
“Masvingo is one the upcoming branches of the supporters club and after successfully launching the Bulawayo chapter we shifted our attention to spreading our wings to some other parts of the country. As such we settled for Masvingo because it is one chapter that has demonstrated highest levels of dedication and commitment in as far as pushing the vision of the supporters club is concerned. With this in mind after winning the offer to host the DHL United Delivered Match, the national committee thought it would be wise to use the chance to engage with the people of Masvingo and launch the chapter,’’ Kamuruko said.
He is expecting a huge crowd to turn up for the occasion in Masvingo, with supporters of other football clubs also free to attend.
“In terms of attendance, just like in Harare we expect a large crowd to turn up for the event. Of course it is a Manchester United event but also as a supporters club we welcome all soccer loving people to come and be part of this big event. At the end of the day the message we are conveying out there is, it’s possible to unite and bring peace in the country through football,’’ he said.
Manchester United Zimbabwe Supporters Chapter in July got official recognition from their parent club in England, an exciting development for those who support the Red Devils in this country. By so doing, Zimbabwe joined Egypt, Kenya, Liberia, Morocco, Sierra Leone and South Africa as the only African countries whose supporters chapters are officially recognised at Old Trafford.
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Bongani Ndlovu