SIMBA RUSHWAYA
The Zimbabwe Football Association (Zifa) finally got it right after capturing English apparel manufacturers Umbro to kit all the national teams as fears swell on the survival of the union if the Warriors fail to qualify for the 2019 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) finals in Egypt this year.
The Warriors are a point away from qualifying for their fourth appearance at the continental extravaganza after Tunisia (2004), Egypt (2006) and Gabon (2017). They host Congo Brazzaville in the final match of the 2019 qualifiers on March 22.
Last week, the football body unveiled a threeyear deal with the British sportswear company and the consignment includes training equipment, travelling gear and playing kit.
Umbro will also provide replicas for sale to the supporters with the first batch of the consignment expected before the Warriors’ AFCON qualifier against Congo-Brazzaville.
ZIFA president Felton Kamambo said they settled for Umbro as they “were giving us the best deal” and was optimistic that “our partnership with Umbro will enhance our visibility as a football brand”.
“Umbro has the capacity to provide replicas for our supporters, unlike previously when it was almost impossible to get national team football jerseys. We have agreed on five percent revenue of the replica sales.
This will be revised each year; the five percent was just the starting point. The bulk of the other kit sponsors were far much less than that,” Kamambo said.
“Even Umbro initially were much less than the five percent but from the negotiations we managed to get that. We will also get some discounts if we buy replicas in bulk for resale.”
The deal captured the imagination of many football stakeholders, but experience has it that these apparel producers tend to be just opportunists who want to associated with teams who participate at tournaments such as the AFCON.
While not sounding pessimistic, past events show that ZIFA went into questionable agreements with kit sponsors, while some of the technical sponsors dumped the football governing body because of inept marketing strategies on the latter. Since the turn of the millennium, the Warriors have been kitted by, among others, technical partners Jartazi, Spanish sports equipment supplier Joma, Legea from Italy, Umbro themselves and of late Mafro.
While Zifa and local teams have been struggling to attract kit sponsorship, the script is different from South Africa where sportswear purveyors are awash.
South African Premier League’s big teams like Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs have been raking in millions of dollars through the sale of their replica jerseys season in, season out.
Of late, the same replica jerseys have found a lucrative market here in Zimbabwe and they compare well in terms of sales with those from English premiership clubs such as Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea.
Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates, in particular, have made major inroads into the local market of sportswear.
It is hoped that Zifa will take advantage of the latest Umbro deal and make millions through sales of replicas who are believed to have been pegged at $50 as soon as they are available on the local market.
Veteran sport personality Charles Mabika thinks the deal is a step in the right direction for Zifa.
“It is a welcome development because this has been lacking. The ball is now in Zifa’s court to take advantage of the deal and sell as many replicas as possible for them to realise revenue while at the same time expanding the national teams’ brand,” said Mabika.
After initially signing a deal with Legea, Zifa had an acrimonious separation with the Italian sportswear after Zifa questioned the existence of a binding contract for the Warriors and other national teams in 2011.
The then Legea representative Luc Verheyen, claimed they had binding contract with Zifa, but the relationship ended on a sour note.
The football governing body previously claimed to have entered into deals with brands such as Puma ahead of the 2012 Nations Cup finals, but the deals were dubious.
