HOW INFLUENTIAL IS MUFULIRA WANDERERS FC IN ZAMBIAN SOCEITY? Last Week Zambias Vice President Guy Scott announced that Government will give a $600 Million VAT refund to Zambian Mines. This comes in the Wake of Mining Giant Mopani Copper Mines threatening to withdraw Sponsorship of its CSR initiatives which include Diggers Rugby Club, Nkana Golf Club, Mufulira Golf Club and Mufulira Wanderers Football Club among others on June 12 this year. Several officials then seemed to air their fears on the fact that Mufulira Wanderers who are Currently in Division 1 would suffer. Zambias second most Supported club at the time were on form and the pull out was not met with happy faces among the thousands of Wanderers fans. Wanderers have never been back to the ZSL since their demotion in 2005. The team has struggled and at one time was abandoned by Mopani who it was reported only gave the team a Monthly Grant of between $10,000 - $6,000. Ironically Wanderers Sister Club Nkana FC had been demoted earlier in 2002 and fans got organized and provided extra revenue to the club which made Nkana return to the ZSL in 2008 before getting demoted again and finally returning in 2010 while at Wanderers the team showed a clear lack of purpose and direction. Forward to 2012 while Nkana FC was fast becoming Mopanis favorite club and eventually won the ZSL for the 12th time in 2013 Wanderers were still nowhere to be seen. Then in January this year a number of Wanderers supporters voiced their concerns over how Mopanis focus was only on Nkana and Sports Minister Chishimba Kambwili urged Mopani to provide adequate funding for Wanderers. Mopani set aside $300,000 for the renovation on Wanderers home ground Shinde Stadium and also increased the teams funding in several areas as Wanderers performance improved and they led the Division 1 North table for a long period. Then came Mopanis pullout which left fans worried. It was reported in 2011 thats Mopani spend around $10 Million on their CSR Initiatives that year and all areas would see no funding. Nkana FC did not seem to be affected by the announcement though. The news of the refund has been welcomed with cheers from Wanderers supporters. Before Mopanis pullout at Mufulira Wanderers the issue of the Tax refunds was never common knowledge to the general Public. Now that Mopani are going to receive the Refund will they return to sponsoring Wanderers? Some Social Commentators have said that Mopani cleverly used Mufulira Wanderers Big Brand as leverage to get their refund. Well thats up for debate. The question remains though if the above is true then... How influential is Mufulira Wanderers in Zambian Society?
Posted on: Mon, 01 Sep 2014 12:50:44 +0000
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