It is now official. Be Forward Wanderers have finally received official communication from their sponsors Be Forward Limited regarding sponsorship termination.
This follows the Japanese used vehicle dealer’s announcement two months ago that it would stop bankrolling the Lali Lubani Road outfit in December this year.
However, the club claimed that in the absence of official communication, it would be difficult to move on and pushed for the same.
In an interview on Tuesday, Nomads chairperson Symon Sikwese said they got the official communication on Monday.
He said: “Now we can go ahead with our plans to court potential sponsors and partners because in the absence of the official communication, our hands were tied. The situation was a bit tricky for us”
Sikwese said the Nomads will not make a fuss of the remaining one-year and, instead, they will ask for a starterpack.
He also said they will now step up their ambitious drive initiated by the main supporters committee to raise K100 million every month through supporters’ contributions.
“We had a fruitful meeting with the main supporters committee on Sunday where it was resolved that there should be a special committee comprising members from both the executive and supporters’ committees to spearhead the drive and it will be led by me.
“We would like to get started the soonest and to that effect, we will announce special Airtel and TNM lines through which the contributions will be channelled. We have also agreed to open a bank account,” he said.
The Nomads chairperson said their estimate is that they have at least one million followers nationwide.
“And if we can have each one of them contributing K100 a month, then we can raise K100 million and that can help sustain the club with or without sponsorship,” he said.
The club’s main supporters committee chairperson Melvin Nkunika said they are optimistic of meeting their target if they reach out to all their supporters.
“The crucial part will be to reach out to all our fans through the initiative we have rolled out to set up structures at all levels nationwide,” he said.
However, football analyst Charles Nyirenda said while the target makes economic sense, the challenge though would be two-fold.
He said: “Most of the so-called supporters are, strictly speaking, sympathizers who are often reluctant to cough out money towards the cause of a club.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has also disturbed many people’s finances such that serious contributions from the diehard supporters in a manner desirable to the club, may not be forthcoming at this time. In terms of fan base, we need also to examine the number of registered supporters who could be a starting point of any commercial drive.
“I don’t know how many such documented supporters Wanderers have. If the figure is low, they should push so that it increases. That way, they would have a good launching pad to raise funds by whatever commercial initiative they adopt.”
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