admin
Harare Bureau
AFTER a year away from the domestic football radar, the BancABC Sup8r tournament returned with a bang last night when it became the richest knock-out competition in the country with a staggering $120 000 cheque for its winners. Financial institution BancABC could not stage the competition last year after negotiations with the PSL took some time and it became late for the tourney to be slotted in on an already congested fixture programme.
But in yet another major show of confidence in the Premier Soccer League by the corporate world, BancABC last unveiled a $258 000 package in prize money for the eight teams which will do battle at the resumption of the tournament.
The bank also revealed that they would also pay $15 000 each to the eight teams that were due to participate in last year’s competition.
More importantly for the clubs that will take part in this year’s event, however, is the fact that the team that will win the cup will walk away with $120 000 which surpasses the $100 000 that Mbada Diamonds Cup winners pocketed last year.
Hashmon Matemera, BancABC managing director unveiled the package at a function at the bank’s headquarters last night and revealed that his institution had also partnered five more companies – Sakunda Petroleum, Topics Stores, LED Travel and Tours, Rockshade and Arenel in bringing the competition back on the PSL landscape.
A draw for the quarter-final matches which will begin on June 28 was also conducted with league champions Dynamos facing Buffaloes in the opening game at Gibbo Stadium in Triangle.
Matemera said his bank had sponsored the tourney since 2009 “with the objective of introducing excitement into soccer at a time when sponsored tournaments are few’’.
“The tournament has grown into an annual event with the exception of 2012 and has allowed BancABC to take the beautiful game of football to the heart of the communities by having matches in places as far as Triangle in the Lowveld.
“It’s humbling to be back in 2013 to launch this football tournament which has become known by millions of Zimbabweans and is even bigger than before. As communicated in 2012, BancABC will honour its $15 000 commitment to each of the eight teams who were supposed to participate in the 2012 edition of the Sup8r.
“BancABC strives to deliver world class products and services to our valued customers therefore it is indeed an honour and privilege to partner with PSL and our valued clients and partners of the 2013 Sup8r tournament,’’ Matemera said.
The runners-up for this year’s edition will pocket $50 000 while the losing semi-finalists will each get US$20 000 and the quarter-finalists each receive $12 000.
Matemera said the coming on board of four more companies to partner them in the tournament was also a positive development for the domestic game.
“This shows change in Zimbabwean football as corporates are joining hands to contribute to the development of sport.
“We also value the association and relationships we have with all the eight participating clubs (Dynamos, Highlanders, Chicken Inn, Monomotapa, Shabanie Mine, Buffaloes, FC Platinum and Motor Action) which continue to grow from strength to strength,’’ Matemera said.
The PSL and the bank have tentatively set 17 August as the date for the final.
PSL chief executive Kenny Ndebele paid glowing tribute to BancABC and also outlined that the teams would go straight into penalties in the event of a draw in regulation time.
Ndebele also said the other venues would be determined after the quarter-final matches but indicated that Gibbo, Mucheke, Mandava would host the opening games with the Chiredzi venue hosting the matches pitting Dynamos against Buffaloes on 28 June and the clash between Monomotapa and Motor Action the following day.
Motor Action who have had an indifferent start to the 2013 league campaign were the last winners of the BancABC competition in 2011 and will be hoping to breathe life into their season with the Sup8r tourney.
The top four teams from last year – Dynamos, Highlanders, Chicken Inn and Monomotapa — were seeded during the draw which was conducted by Harare Mayor Muchadeyi Masunda, BancABC group sales and marketing manager Leah Banda, veteran journalist Charles Mabika and Matemera.
Ndebele also warned the participating clubs against flouting the tournament’s rules and regulations and indicated that they risked forfeiting their prizemoney.
“We still have hiccups here and there but we hope this tournament will be smooth and clubs will put on the sponsors logo. Fines will be deducted for not adhering to rules and regulations.
“The league and BancABC would like to see more fans to watch the games so we will try to keep the gate charges as attractive as possible, which means there will be no applications from clubs to increase charges but we will try to engage the councils to reduce their charges,’’ Ndebele said.
BancABC official Desmund Ali also indicated that there would be individual prizes for the Player of the tournament ($1 300), goalkeeper of the of the tournament ($1 000) while the man of the match for each encounter would receive US$400.
Although he was not at last night’s draw, Dynamos coach Callisto Pasuwa will certainly be eyeing the BancABC after winning the league and Mbada Diamonds Cups in the last two years.
Draw:
Dynamos v Buffaloes (Gibbo), Motor Action v Monomotapa (Gibbo),
Highlanders v FC Platinum (Mucheke), Chicken Inn v Shabanie Mine (Mandava).
Online Reporter