Online Reporter
Robson Sharuko
Metros Editor
SCOTTLAND president Scott Sakupwanya says he wants the winners of the Castle Lager Premiership to get US$3 million, which will be the biggest prize money paid to a winner of a top-flight league in Africa.
The businessman said the arrival of the Munhumutapa Challenge Cup, which will pay its winners a cool US$1 million, has dramatically changed the game and it should also result in changes in what the league champions get.
The Premiership championship race is the country’s premier competition and Sakupwanya said it should respond to the seismic changes unfolding in domestic football.
There have been some huge investments in the local Premiership in the last few years with the newboys even venturing into either construction of their own stadiums or giving their homes a major facelift.
The Chahwanda Stadium in Kwekwe is the jewel in the crown when it comes to investment into these real estate projects.
That financial muscle has also enabled local clubs to transform themselves into entities which can once again lure players from Zambia, Malawi, Namibia and Eswatini.
A number of players from West Africa have also trooped into the country to play on the local scene.
Sakupwanya’s flagship club, Scottland, won the domestic championship last year and pocketed US$100,000.
The businessman believes the prize money should be increased thirty fold and should, at least, be about US$3million.
He first made the remarks when he appeared at his club’s podcast last Thursday and, yesterday, he told H-Metro that the arrival of the Munhumutapa Challenge Cup has changed the game and should also see changes in the prize money offered in the championship race.
“When you look at what is happening in our football, not only among the clubs but also in things like the construction of new stadiums, and the arrival of the Munhumutapa Challenge Cup, I think it will only be fair for winners of the league to get US$3million.
“If we have such a kind of sponsorship, you will see how our football will develop because the quality of the league will improve, we will have more talented foreign players coming in, fighting for places with our own players, and playing against them every week.
“It will raise the bar for our league.
“We have an economy right now which can support the sponsorship of our league where the winning team will get US$3million.”
Such a sponsorship deal will see the domestic Premiership climbing to top position, in terms of what the champions receive, on the continent.
The South African Premiership, which paid its current champions US$1,13 million, which represented a R5 million increase from the previous season, is on top spot in Africa when it comes to the money which is paid to the domestic football champions.
Kaizer Chiefs won the Nedbank Cup, the premier knockout football tournament in South Africa, and pocketed R7 million (approximately US$430,000).
That is not even half the amount of the US$1 million which the winners of the Munhumutapa Challenge Cup will get this year.
Winners of the top-flight league in Morocco get US$600,000 with the champions of Egypt getting US$500,000, the champions of Tunisia getting US$300,000 and the champions of Tanzania getting US$250,000.
These are the top five leagues in Africa when it comes to the biggest prize money paid to their football champions.
Interestingly, among these top five leagues, only the champions of South Africa get more money than what the winners of the Munhumutapa Challenge Cup will receive.
Winners of the Munhumutapa Challenge Cup will get TWICE what the champions of Egypt receive for winning the league and FOUR times what the champions of Tanzania receive for winning the league.
Sakupwanya, whose club have won three pieces of silverware in the past four months, after winning the Independence Cup on Saturday, is building two stadiums, in Mabvuku and at their sports complex in Ruwa.
“I had a dream that one day we are going to change our sports facility in Mabvuku.
“When we have our own stadium, when we have sponsors who are going to put in US$3million, then we will be talking business.”
Mathew Masinge
I like Sakupwanya’s idea but it is not true that our economy can find a sponsor for that much when the majority of clubs cannot even pay their players on time and don’t have stadia of their own. That’s puts a damper on any investor to look that direction. Munhumutapa’s sponsorship is still in its infancy. We cannot use it as a yardstick. Football isn’t a big business in this country. It’s still in the area of entertainment. Look at how much the gate charges are? Look at how many institutions with very little to do with football milk the football industry. Look at the club ownership structures? All of them are either personal projects or corporate owned. None runs like a business. None is registered on any stock exchange. So while Sakupwanya’s idea is noble, it however resides in dreamland for now.