adminPetros Kausiyo Deputy Sports Editor
INTERNATIONALLY acclaimed sports administrator Tommy Sithole is this morning expected to deliver a keynote address at a breakfast meeting at a Harare hotel where the Sports and Recreation Commission will meet with corporate entities in a bid to unlock the business potential that is abundant in domestic sport.
Sithole, who was the Zimbabwe Olympic Committee president before moving to the International Olympic Committee where he worked as director international cooperation and development, will lead the discussion on a meeting whose theme will be “Maximising Return on Sport Sponsorship’’.
The Sports Commission, being the supreme sports body in the country, has often been challenged to take a leading role in the manner in which they administer sport and show affiliate associations the best practices of corporate governance and ways of turning sport into the big business that it has become the world over. Sports Commission corporate communications manager, Tirivashe Nheweyembwa, said in a statement yesterday that he was hopeful the breakfast meeting would also enhance the national associations’ understanding of the need to preserve the sponsorship packages they have and to market their various sporting disciplines.
“The Sports and Recreation Commission will be hosting a breakfast meeting on Tuesday 24 March at the Rainbow Towers and it shall run under the theme ‘Maximising Return on Sport Sponsorship Investment.’
“Dr Tommy Sithole, who was formerly with the International Olympic Committee as Director International Cooperation and Development, will address the gathering.
“The breakfast meeting will target delegates from the Corporate World who are responsible for Marketing and managing the sponsorship budgets, Presidents/Secretary Generals of National Sport Associations, Schools and Tertiary Institution,” said Nheweyembwa.
Nheweyembwa said they had invited Sithole in a bid to try and tap from his vast experience gained from decades of sport administration in different spheres. The Sports Commission spokesman also outlined the objectives of the breakfast indaba. The objectives of the meeting are to:
To build an understanding and appreciation of what the sponsors will be looking for when they sponsor properties
How to ensure that Sponsors get their return on investment
Exploring and understanding the commercial rights of both the Sponsors and the Sponsored Properties
The role of Government in creating an enabling environment for the Sponsors and the properties sponsored.
Online Reporter