Zambia Super League side, Mighty Mufulira Wanderers on Friday unveiled their new camping and training kit sponsors, Advantage Insurance at a colorful presentation event at Advantage’s North mead offices located along Manchinchi road.
The deal was brokered by the Mufulira Wanderers fans society led by Chairperson George Katongo.
Advantage Insurance will folk out $6, 000 for the purchase of training and camping kit, and in turn, they will receive an advertising platform on Wanderers’ training and camping kit as well as along the perimeter fence at the legendary Shinde Stadium.
At the event, Mufulira Wanderers were represented by club CEO Chimwemwe Manda-Luzendu and EXCO member Wesley Mutembo, The fans society was represented by George Katongo while Minister of Higher Education, Brian Mushimba was the guest of honor.
Katongo who spoke on behalf of the fans society assured, Advantage Insurance that they will benefit from Wanderers’ huge fan base.
“The deal has been brokered by the fans society. The club belongs to the Community and the fans society is part of the community. Our sponsors Mopani Copper Mines have said they will not enjoy the usual sponsorship due to reasons behind their control but have asked us to partner with others would-be sponsors,” he said.
“So we took the time to engage Advantage insurance and we shared with them our rich history and our current struggles. They agreed to give us sponsorship to the tune of 6000 dollars to be used to purchase camping and training kit. This is a milestone and very commendable given the current situation. we promise to do our part and we shall ensure that you benefit from our huge following. So that going forward you will bring more sponsorship to the club,” he added.
Wesley Mutembo spoke on behalf of the club thanked both Advantage Insurance and the fans society for ironing out the details of the deal and making it possible.
“I stand here to represent the club present and the entire EXCO. Any new partnership brings excitement and more so one which seeks to advance the interests of two big institutions. On our part as the EXCO we are particularly grateful that Advantage heeds the call to fill the gap of having a designated sponsor for the training and camping kit especially in an era when there is an economic slow down due to the COVID 19, to advantage we say thank you very much,” he said.
“Our EXCo has always propagated the need for all interested parties coming on board to render support in the spirit of cooperation and in this regard, it gives us pleasure to see that the fans society brokered this very important deal, Thank you very much, Mufulira Wanderer’s fans society. As a club, we going to offer an advertising platform to advantage on the training and camping kit and also on the perimeter fence.”
“This partnership opens up the door for much more in the future and is a stepping stone. Wanderers are open for sponsorship and we invite everyone to come on board and partner with us,” he added.
The Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) was represented by Deputy General Secretary, Joseph Chimpampwe who applauded the legendary cup fighters for the idea of the deal.
“I would like to congratulate Mufulira Wanderers and to Advantage thank you very much. This is very good and is what we want to encourage as an association because even for us the idea is to have control of our cash flow and be self-sustaining,” Chimpampwe said.
Advantage Insurance Board Chairman Paul Kaluba was quick to point out Wanderers’ rich history that has seen them produce players and coaches like Samuel ‘Zoom’ Ndhlovu, Kalusha Bwalya, Charles, and Bilton Musonda.
“When I was looking at the time table it said 16:00hrs but after an hour and 30 minutes that’s when the program started and I realized that Maite iwina Ichungulo (laughs). Soccer on Zambia is second religion and for us, we are glad to offer this one-year sponsorship to Mighty Mufulira Wanderers. We do a lot of community support and this is not new to us. We are a very focused business entity and we are the only Insurance company that has a triple-A rating in Zambia,” he said.
“I would like to thank Mighty Mufulira Wanderers supporters for hovering around our offices and making sure we come on board. Wanderers have produced a lot of great players and coaches like Samuel ‘Zoom’ Ndhlovu, Kalusha Bwalya, Charles Musonda, etc.”
When the league came to halt back in March due to the Coronavirus epidemic, The Mufulira based club was 17th on the log with 14 points from 25 games.
It’s lovely and wonderful to see our hometown team have a deal done.