Tanzania: Hefty Package for Premiership

The Citizen (Dar es Salaam)

Majuto Omary

26 May 2011

Vodacom Tanzania has increased its Mainland Premier League sponsorship package by 40 per cent, the firm’s head of sponsorship, George Rwehumbiza, announced yesterday.

Rwehumbiza said the company would spend Sh1.4 billion on next season’s league, Sh400 million more than what was spent in the 2010/11 season.

“We’re doing all these with the objective of promoting soccer in Tanzania and making the league more competitive and exciting,” he said when handing over prizes to winners of last season’s league, Young Africans.

Elaborating, Rwehumbiza said they will spend Sh400 million on sports kits for teams lined up for the 2010/2012 season, and Sh833 million will go to the TFF.

He said the national soccer body would spend the money set aside for it on, among other things, footing its administrative costs.

The Vodacom official said the company moved to improve the package owing to an increase in expenditures of running the league, which is conducted in the home and away format.

Besides sports kits and TFF administrative expenses, the other expenditures earmarked for the elite league include allowances for referees, match commissioners and travelling costs for teams from one centre to another. Rwehumbiza said having a lucrative league was one of the best ways to turn around the country’s soccer fortunes.

“We are proud to be associated with the league because it’s one of the best leagues in East and Central Africa,” he said.

“There are still many challenges ahead, but we believe we’ll overcome them and attain the set goal of turning around Tanzania’s soccer fortunes,” he added.

Rwehumbiza presented a dummy cheque worth Sh42m to the newly crowned Mainland champions during a brief prize-giving ceremony.

He also handed over cheques valued at Sh17m and Sh11m to the 2010/11 league runners-up Simba and third-placed Azam FC, respectively.

Speaking at the same occasion, Minister for Information, Youth, Culture and Sports Emmanuel Nchimbi, asked Vodacom Tanzania to join hands with the government in promoting the sport from the grassroots.

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