The fight over the NetOne Charity Shield and BancABC logos is far from over.
Dynamos donned their sponsors’ logo in the football season-opening final against Motor Action, who wore NetOne jerseys, at the National Sports Stadium on Sunday, leading to the near-abandonment of the match.
Dynamos, who eventually won the match 2-1, chose to preserve their sponsorship deal with BancABC by refusing to don the kit that had been branded by NetOne for the match.
A series of meetings followed between NetOne and the Premier Soccer League (PSL) to try and convince Dynamos and BancABC to relax their demands but without success.
The match looked in doubt for the better part of Sunday as the parties haggled on who should get advertising space on the front part of the playing kits.
NetOne later conceded and allowed Dynamos to use kit with a BancABC logo in front.
However, not before the mobile network provider had written to the PSL demanding an explanation on the embarrassing situation they had been subjected to.
PSL chief executive Kenny Ndebele confirmed receiving papers from NetOne.
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“NetOne submitted the papers to us just before the match and we have since forwarded them to our legal team. They are the ones who are handling the matter at the moment. We will give an official statement on Wednesday (tomorrow),” said Ndebele.
When NewsDay Sport contacted NetOne, they requested written questions. They had not responded to the questions by last night, but the company’s brand manager Rutendo Chabururuka gave the strongest hint that they would sue.
“This is a delicate issue. Our management and legal team are looking into this matter. Once a position is reached, we will advise accordingly,” said Chabururuka.
In addition to the threats, there are also reports that NetOne would withhold the prize money that Dynamos won as they “violated” the competition rules.
After winning the match, the Harare giants were presented with a dummy cheque, confirming the $50 000 prize money, although sources said that is all that they might get.
What could have been more logical on Sunday was to stick the NetOne logo just somewhere on the Dynamos jerseys as no team has dumped its original sponsor in favour of a tournament sponsor.
A BancABC senior executive told NewsDay Sport last night that a NetOne logo could have been appended to their kit.
“We had a kit that was ready for such kind of thing, but there was no deal. At the end of the day, we will certainly pour more money into the clubs. But I must say we are not worried about this at all,” he said.
BancABC are the sponsors of the top eight knockout competition and, according to the executive, the latest developments will not sour their relationship with the PSL.
