Groot requests sponsorship transfer Groot Systems has requested that its N$9 million sponsorship of the Namibia Premier League (NPL) be transferred to the First Division instead.NPL interim committee member Ranga Haikali told Namibian Sun that they were informed by the previous committee that Groot Systems had made a request to transfer the sponsorship.
“We were informed that there was a request by Groot System to transfer the sponsorship to the First Division, and the reply was that such transfer would have to be approved because we do not have the right as we just administer the first division,” he said.
He said the committee was informed that no money had been transferred to the NPL under the sponsorship, “so as an interim committee we now have to get clarity on how that will be dealt with”.
Groot Systems was announced as an NPL bronze sponsor last year. It pledged a sponsorship of N$3 million per season over three years.
Explaining what a sponsorship transfer would mean, NPL chief administrator Tovey Hoebeb said because the First Division was administered by the premier league, it did not have its own sponsors and depended on funding from the NPL.
“The request was that Groot Systems transfer its sponsorship to the First Division, so it is not up to the interim committee to decide on what is to be done next, but I do not think it will be a problem because that would mean that the First Division will have its own sponsor and the premier league will have its own sponsor,” he said.
The previous board said in a statement last month that at the annual NPL congress last year the management committee was instructed to revise the league's N$24 million budget to N$18.8 million, and then to submit the revised budget to former sponsor MTC for reconsideration.
It was then mentioned that MTC had requested the NPL to present an annual budget of N$15 million, which was done. They are now waiting for MTC to reply.
Hoebeb explained how they arrived at N$18.8 million.
“The 16 clubs each pay N$54 500 affiliation fees which then amount to N$872 000. Then you add the N$3 million from Groot Systems and the N$15 million of the budget presented to MTC. That gives you N$18.8 million,” he said.
If the Groot Systems sponsorship is transferred to the First Division, the premier league's budget would fall short by N$3 million, he explained.
Asked what had prompted the company to request the transfer, Groot Systems founder Simon Kapenda declined to comment, referring Namibian Sun to the NPL.
“That you can only get from them. I have nothing to say; all the information is with them,” he said.
KAINO NGHITONGO