The estimated reading time for this post is 275 seconds
According the media statement released today on social media Power Dynamos football club sponsorship standing hangs on the balance. This is due to the recent political situation currently lingering over the clubs’s core sponsor CEC.
If negotiations concerning the football are not through to the takeover of the Copperbelt Energy company thenn the club stands to lose. Dynamos entirely depend on CEC to run the affairs of he club. Here is the press statement below.
Power Dynamos Football Club (Power)has followed with keen interest events surrounding the business interests of its parent sponsor, the Copperbelt Energy Corporation Plc (CEC) which have largely been understood to pose a serious threat to the Company’s financial standing and sustainability.
Power is fearful that if an amicable solution to preserve and protect the interests of one of football’s most consistent and committed sponsor, is not promptly sought by all parties involved, then any empty pitch and terraces at the Club’s home stadium, Arthur Davies, are eminent as we foresee our long-standing sponsorship through financial and material support either drastically reduced or discontinued.
“With Konkola Copper Mine’s debt to CEC of over USD144 million drilling a hole into CEC’s coffers and no solution in sight for CEC’s present challenges, the future of Kitwe’s Ndeke side affectionately known by its supporters as “AbaYello”, and an accomplished Club that the power utility nurtured since its birth in 1971 and fully sponsored consistently for close to 50 years hangs
in the balance,” says Club Chief Executive Officer, Happie Munkondya.
Power receives an estimated annual grant of USD1.8 million from CEC, its sole sponsor, without which the Club’s over 60 member staff establishment that enjoys among other benefits consistent emoluments, medical and insurance cover, risks being cast onto the streets to face the prevailing
harsh economic challenges as hopes for a quick and mutually beneficial solution to the impasse that has gripped two of the country’s key economic sectors, mining and energy rages on.
Munkondya stressed: “While our parent sponsor has yet to officially communicate a firm position regarding the future of its relationship with the Club, we can logically speculate a drastic budget cut or a possible total discontinuation of financial and material support that the Club has enjoyed
since its establishment as a community amateur group in 1971.”
CEC, by any standard, is undoubtedly ranked highly among industry peers in terms of consistent sponsorship to a football club, a position that confirms the 6 times premier league winners and 1991 CAF cup winners (first and only Southern African club to attain the feat) stay in the ranks of
the country’s premier league football in its 50 years of existence. As such, discontinued financial support to the Club puts it at great risk of being, for the first time, relinquished into the lower ranks of Zambian football.
“We share the anxiety and concerns of thousands of our fans and supporters across the country who might have to endure the devastating effects of experiencing an admirable 50-year legacy go into extinction given the honour and prestige that the Club has served the country with, not only
through silverware but also having produced among the country’s greatest players, past and present,” lamented Munkondya.
Power, like millions of others, share our collective belief that football is not only a unifying factor,
and a cherished source of entertainment but a multi-million kwacha industry and a formidable
employer with immense potential to positively impact Zambia’s economy. As the world emerges
from the devastating social and economic effects of the COVID-19 from which the game of
football has been among the hardest hit, all efforts must be directed at reviving the game and
incentivising it to grow and continue as one of our country’s formidable social and economic
sectors.
It is, therefore, our sincere call to the Government, through its relevant ministries and agencies,
that as it seeks to amicably resolve the impasse surrounding CEC’s business interests and survival,
giving due consideration to the plight of the Company’s primary and peripheral beneficiaries
especially its employees and those that earn their livelihood through its social investments must be
of primary concern.
About Power Dynamos Football Club
Power Dynamos Football Club is a Zambian football club based in Kitwe that plays in the FAZ
Super Division and is fully sponsored by the Copperbelt Energy Corporation Plc (CEC). Formed
as a community youth soccer academy in Kitwe’s Ndeke township, the Six-time premier league
cup winners and 1991 CAF Cup Winners has been in the topflight of Zambian football since the
start of the Super Division and is ranked among all-time best Zambian clubs in terms of silverware
and performance. The Club has a three-tier youth football development academy, Young Power,
whose first tier plays in the Provincial Division One.
Issued by PDFC Media Team
