Gaborone United (GU) have secured a sponsorship from Chemicals Industries Botswana to the tune of P180 000. The sponsorship comes at a time the team is basking in the glory of two other sponsorships from Zac Construction and STC Cleaning Chemicals. Sponsorship from Chemical Industries Botswana takes the total value of the team sponsorship to a total of P540 000 a year. The Chief Executive Officer of Chemicals Industries Botswana, Steve Rimer, told Sunday Standard that the sponsorship runs for a period of one year and is subject to renewal. He, however, said the sponsorship is not performance-based as is the norm with many other companies. Rimer also said the company would share the space with ZAC Construction and STC Cleaning Chemicals. He added that the company would, however, print its own shorts for the team displaying their logo.
“Chemicals Industries Botswana would also supply GU with bottled water during the games and even during the training sessions,” he said.
The GU Chairman, Kelisitse Gilika, applauded the move by Chemical Industries Botswana saying it signals more good things to come for the team. He said the sponsorship also shows that GU will always be a leader among the Premier League teams.
“We are always leading and we will continue to lead. Right now we have secured a third sponsorship that would be running concurrently with the other two and obviously they are going to share the space on the team’s attire.
This is the first thing to happen in Botswana but it is a trend in most countries like the Spanish La Liga and even the French League. I also hope the sponsorship will boost the morale of the players for the coming games,” he said.
The sponsorship was launched at the National Stadium on Wednesday when GU locked horns with city rivals, Township Rollers. Unfortunately for GU, Rollers spoiled the day for them by winning the game by a solitary goal, courtesy of Zulian Phiri’s last minute free kick.
Gilika also expressed happiness about the high attendance of their supporters. He said since his committee came into the office, the gate takings of the team have tripled compared to the year the team gained promotion. He said sooner their stands would be filled to capacity as was the case before they were relegated to the First Division. In the old days, GU was known as the money machine because they won most tournaments that were on offer. But they are yet to produce the same magic and the sponsorships might have come at the right time for the team.
