Nomads sponsor Drops bombshell
Be Forward Wanderers could be thrown in turmoil as their sponsor Be Forward Limited are set to stop bankrolling the club from next year.
The Japanese used vehicle dealer’s local representative Mike Butao made the revelation in an interview on Monday, when he was clarifying on the additional 10 percent sponsorship cut.
“The [club’s] concern should be from next year and beyond because they [Be Forward] would want to concentrate on recovery having been hit hard by effects of Covid-19 pandemic.
“That is their position, but we are still negotiating…. There is still room for negotiations,” he said.
The former Nomads general secretary (GS) said the Nomads’ executive is aware of the development..
And clarifying the further 10 percent cut, Butao said: “I negotiated that percentage reduction when Be Forward wanted to freeze the sponsorship by three months only that the approval was made late, but the GS [Victor Maunde] was duly informed. That arrangement is until December this year.
Nomads chairperson Symon Sikwese confirmed being briefed on the sponsor’s decision.
He said: “It was indeed communicated to us by him [Butao], but we wanted to keep it under wraps so that we could inform the players first.
“Unfortunately, the sponsorship arrangement is weird, whereby we have no access to the sponsor and we have to go through Mike. It’s a funny way of operation. They [Be Forward] are not open and there is no room for us to air our views.”
Sikwese said the Nomads executive committee will meet during the week to map the way forward on the pending sponsorship withdrawal.
On what will happen regarding the remaining year of the three-year sponsorship agreement, Sikwese said: “We have a year to go, but since they have valid reasons for pulling out, we might not pursue it. Otherwise in a normal situation, we could have taken it up. There’s no way we can argue more.
“For now, we are going to look at broader plans going forward on how we can sustain the club. Tough decisions have to be made such as cutting costs.
“So, we are going to meet the players and the supporters committee. We will also engage the trustees, but the only problem is that they [trustees] are very disintegrated.”
Nomads captain Alfred Manyozo Jnr described the development as a setback, but said the timing of the communication gives the executive committee time look for alternatives.
“It’s shocking, but then I am afraid there is little we can do about it other than urge our bosses to bang heads on the way forward. The solace is that we are still assured of the sponsorship till December, so it gives them a chace to plan,” he said.
Be Forward sponsors Wanderers to the tune of K150 million per season. They started sponsoring the Lali Lubani Road outfit in 2015.
