The prospect of a historic tour of Zimbabwe by Spanish giants Real Madrid has sparked excitement, potentially culminating in a match against the Warriors at the National Sports Stadium. Negotiations between the club and Zimbabwe Tourism Authority officials have commenced, holding the promise of a fruitful collaboration.
Real Madrid CF stands as the most successful football club globally, boasting an impressive record. With 15 European Cups, 36 National Leagues, 20 Spanish Cups and the Best Club of the 20th Century FIFA Trophy among other achievements.
They are ranked the second most valuable club in the world, after English giants Manchester United, with the Spanish team worth about 1,8 billion euros. The Spanish giants have won three world club titles, two Uefa Cups, one Uefa Super Cup and have been hosts to a battery of some of the finest players to play the game - Alfredo di Stefano, Puskas, Ronaldo (Brazil), Luis Figo and Zinedine Zidane.
To facilitate this potential partnership, a technical team is being established to address the logistics of bringing Real Madrid to the National Sports Stadium for a match.
The Role of Footballerista and Tata Communications
Footballerista, a Switzerland-based company, aims to reshape how businesses connect with audiences to make every interaction memorable by bringing exclusive technologies and digital content to markets. Global connectivity in combination with digital content like Madridista by Real Madrid leads to new fan experiences.
Read also: From Hawaiian Village to Landmark
They are setting new standards with our ready-to-go turnkey technical solution to bring themed content directly to the fan, focussed on high-demand areas like mobile wireless connectivity and digital content. Footballerista is the global market enabler for sport clubs and sponsors to connect all elements as a self-propelled turntable.
Tata Communications is a global digital ecosystem enabler powering today’s fast-growing digital economy in more than 190 countries and territories. Leading with trust, it enables digital transformation of enterprises globally with collaboration and connected solutions, core and next gen connectivity, cloud hosting and security solutions and media services.
Afrika Banque as an Official Sponsor
Afrika Banque is now an official sponsor of Real Madrid in West Africa. The alliance is part of a vision shared by both institutions: to promote talent, encourage collective effort, and project ambition without borders. The CEO of Afrika Financial Group, Vasco Duarte Silva, said: "This partnership with Real Madrid symbolises a new stage in the history of Afrika Banque. As a result, Afrika Banque consolidates its position as one of the continent's leading and most promising financial institutions.
Zimbabwe's Football Landscape
Football is the number one sport in the southern African country of 16 million people but fans had lost interest in the domestic game in recent years, chiefly due to the weak performances of the best-supported clubs, with newer, smaller clubs dominating.
Zimbabwe was suspended by football’s world governing body FIFA in February 2022 over government interference in the Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) - a ban that applied to all national teams and the country’s clubs at the continental level, including women and youth teams.
Read also: Bindura University
But while the ban has been a huge blow in many ways, Zimbabwe’s domestic game has experienced something of a revival. Attendance has risen across the Zimbabwe Premier Soccer League (PSL) to an average of about 15,000 this season, up from about 2,000 last season.
Dynamos, Zimbabwe’s most decorated club, have won a record 22 league titles since they were formed in 1963 and reached the African Champions League final in 1998.
“The clubs owned by the big corporates had an edge over us on the transfer market in recent years,” Mashingaidze, who is also a former general-secretary of ZIFA, said. “Now, thanks to sponsorship, we can now compete on the transfer market and as you can see, we’ve managed to sign some quality players this season.”
With the cheapest ticket pegged at $2, football is also one of the few only affordable sources of entertainment and an escape from the hardships of daily life in Zimbabwe, which is mired in economic crisis and unemployment.
But PSL and club officials feared that while the domestic game has improved, it will be hard to sustain if the country remains an international footballing pariah.
Read also: Wild Horizons Zimbabwe
“We can’t remain in the wilderness any longer,” Mashingaidze said. “Sponsors want their brands to be seen at the continental and international level,” he said.
Zimbabwe was suspended after the Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC), the state body responsible for sport, fired ZIFA president Felton Kamambo and his entire board of directors over allegations of corruption and sexual harassment of female match officials.
FIFA has repeatedly said that the condition for Zimbabwe’s reinstatement is the unconditional return of Kamambo and his board to office, even though they are set to stand trial in the country’s courts.
Back at the raucous recent Harare derby, Dynamos supporter Kudakwashe Chitungo told Al Jazeera that it was unfair for the players to be denied the chance to play for their country.
“These players are being punished for a crime that they didn’t commit. They are just pawns at the mercy of egoistic people in big offices who are refusing to do what is required to be done for the ban to be removed. They are in the centre of a fight they nothing about.
Kenya, Zimbabwe indefinite football bans explained
Popular articles:
tags:
