WINDHOEK – Teams campaigning in the Namibia Premier League (NPL) were last month left high and dry when their monthly grants were slashed by 50% as punishment for the NPL’s failure to promptly consult and inform both league sponsors MTC and FNB Namibia about Standard Bank’s arrival as sponsor of the Top-8 Cup, New Era Sport has learnt.
The big bone of contention that led to the slashing of the clubs’ monthly grants by 50% is a clause in the sponsorship agreement between the NPL and both MTC (official sponsor) and FNB Namibia (gold status sponsor), which clearly states that both sponsors’ logos should remain on the clubs’ playing gear, irrespective of which competition the clubs partake in.
In the case of the ongoing Standard Bank-sponsored Top-8 Cup, the jerseys of all the eight clubs currently participating in the Top-8 Cup should be branded or jointly carry the logos of Standard Bank, MTC and FNB, as initially agreed in the sponsorship agreement between NPL, MTC and FNB under the clauses that deal with co-branding in cup competitions and the likes.
In the opening round of fixtures of the Top-8 Cup last month, all eight participating clubs, namely African Stars, Black Africa, Mighty Gunners, Unam, Tigers, Tura Magic, Orlando Pirates and Eleven Arrows, played in jerseys that were only branded with a Standard Bank logo on the chest but excluded MTC and FNB logos – who both were contractually promised to enjoy such exposure.
Additionally, New Era Sport understands that when NPL brought Standard Bank on board as sponsor of the Top-8 Cup, prior consultation with both MTC and FNB did not adequately take place and hence clubs were left in the dark about important issues such as co-branding and other privileges as stipulated in the league sponsorship contract.
Resultantly, both MTC and FNB took serious note of last month’s breach of agreement when the Top-8 kicked off as their logos were nowhere to be seen on all eight clubs’ jerseys and a decision was then taken to cut 50% from the monthly grants of those eight clubs.
In fact, a reliable source informed this publication that the slashing of the grants was only exclusively applicable for the month of February and a clear warning was issued to the NPL leadership reminding them to stick to the sponsorship agreement NPL has with MTC and FNB.
Should the same incident repeat itself in the coming rounds of the Top-8 Cup, it is understood that both sponsors have vowed to move a step ahead and cut 100% of the grants and eventually nullify the entire sponsorship agreement if the co-branding issue remains unresolved.
New Era Sport has however seen an email sent by the league’s secretariat to all eight participating clubs reminding them to submit their Top-8 Cup playing gear so that they can be co-branded with both MTC and FNB logos for the coming round of matches to avoid further sanctions.