Mobile phone industry powers football

◆ took over the sponsorship of the Lesotho Premiership, Econet announced their return as the main sponsor of the league in September last year.

In the past 16 years, the Lesotho’s Premier League has been sponsored by telecommunications companies with Econet, through their Buddie product, having a second dance with the league, while Vodacom have also had a flirtation with the league. However, the same cannot be said about the game in this country.

Despite the huge market for the industry here, which has seen many of the companies declaring huge profits, their relationship with the national game remains a tricky one, while everyone across the region is feasting from this thriving industry.

Econet once entered into a five-year deal to sponsor the domestic Premiership, but cancelled the agreement after just one year amid concerns at the company that NetOne had entered into a separate deal to sponsor CAPS United.

Since then, repeated efforts by successive PSL leaders to try and lure the country’s dominant mobile phone company back into their fold have failed. This week, Econet Media’s Kwesé TV revealed they were not bidding for the domestic Premier Soccer League television rights, sparking an intense debate on an interactive platform for leading African football writers, administrators and commentators.

NetOne are believed to have agreed a deal to sponsor the country’s Big Three clubs — Dynamos, Highlanders and CAPS United — but the deal has been shrouded in secrecy although images of the teams’ players wearing OneFusion T-shirts during their pre-season preparations appear to confirm an agreement has been thrashed out.