Zimbabwe: Fake opponent & the L'Sporto Saga
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Zimbabwe: Fake opponent & the L'Sporto Saga
El Salvador to Probe Team
The Herald (Harare)
January 8, 2004
Posted to the web January 8, 2004
Lawrence Moyo
Harare
THE El Salvador Football Federation has distanced itself from the team that masqueraded as the official El Salvador team and played against the Warriors at the National Sports Stadium on Sunday, calling it a group of impostors.
The federation said it was treating the matter seriously.
According to an Agence France-Presse report from the El Salvador capital San Salvador, the federation.s president, Humberto Torres, told a Press conference that they would be investigating the matter, which has captured the world.s attention since The Herald exposed the fraud in its Tuesday issue.
"This is a serious matter," Torres said.
"That could cause us problems with Fifa as they might believe we had authorised this team to represent us as the national side. These players did not have this authorisation, we are going to study this matter in fine detail," he added.
The scandal has, no doubt, tarnished the reputation of L-Sporto, the organisers of the controversial match on Sunday, given the way they had promoted the match since last year and even insisted on having the match when the Warriors were at full strength with the likes of captain Peter Ndlovu.
Entry charges were hiked with the VIP tickets selling at a record $75 000.
Zifa chief executive, Edgar Rogers, said that the December 21 match was postponed at the request of L-Sporto, the official kit suppliers for the Warriors, as El Salvador could not bring in their full first team to engage a second string Zimbabwe side.
"They said because of the marketing strategy targeted for the matches involving the Warriors and the fact that El Salvador were bringing their full first team, they would rather have the match postponed to a later date when the foreign-based players will be available," explained Rogers at that time.
The El Salvador Football Federation claims the impostors hoodwinked the Zimbabwean authorities into believing they were the genuine national squad.
Instead the team which came has been described as "a rag-tag bunch" made up of players from several different teams - including some who were "between clubs" although they will be happy to have scrambled a goalless draw against the toothless Warriors.
Meanwhile, after failing to deliver a kit to the Warriors on Sunday as promised, L-Sporto says the kit is now ready for collection from China where it was manufactured. L-Sporto local representative, Felix Sapao, said yesterday that he would be leaving for China today to get the consignment in the company of an official from Zifa.
"The kit is ready for collection and I am leaving tomorrow (today) together with a Zifa official to collect it from China where it was manufactured. My boss says that the kit cannot be flown from China without someone accompanying it and that is why I am going there.
"I am not sure who will accompany me from Zifa but I am sure Edgar Rogers will be able to give you the name," said Sapao.
Sapao distanced himself from the fake El Salvador team and directed all questions to George Gonzalez, the L-Sporto director of international games.
The Warriors were supposed to have received the kit before Sunday.s match but they ended up using kit from a local sports shop although it had the L-Sporto logo embroidered on the jerseys which was done at the last minute. Zifa and L-Sporto on November 3 last year signed what became the biggest-ever sponsorship deal in the history of Zimbabwean football.
In the seven-year deal worth US$4,5 million in cash, kit and equipment, the Italian sportswear company would become the official kit sponsor of all Zimbabwe.s national football teams.
Under the deal, Zifa are supposed to receive kit for the Nations Cup finals and US$100 000 in cash before the start of the tournament. On the other hand, Zifa are obliged to buy 25 000 Warriors jerseys from L-Sporto to sell to supporters and interested companies, an arrangement some critics say is tantamount to the football association sponsoring itself given the cost of buying the replica jerseys from the sponsor.
The late arrival of the kit will also affect the sale of the replica jerseys to the public, as many would have preferred to have the kit well before the start of the continental showcase and already there are lots of cheap locally made jerseys on sale around the country.
Negotiations for a similar deal fell through in Ghana in 2002 as the Ghana Football Association contested the requirement that they buy jerseys from L-Sporto.
Other established kit suppliers like Nike, Reebok, and Adidas actually provide free replica jerseys as part of sponsorship packages.
The Herald (Harare)
January 8, 2004
Posted to the web January 8, 2004
Lawrence Moyo
Harare
THE El Salvador Football Federation has distanced itself from the team that masqueraded as the official El Salvador team and played against the Warriors at the National Sports Stadium on Sunday, calling it a group of impostors.
The federation said it was treating the matter seriously.
According to an Agence France-Presse report from the El Salvador capital San Salvador, the federation.s president, Humberto Torres, told a Press conference that they would be investigating the matter, which has captured the world.s attention since The Herald exposed the fraud in its Tuesday issue.
"This is a serious matter," Torres said.
"That could cause us problems with Fifa as they might believe we had authorised this team to represent us as the national side. These players did not have this authorisation, we are going to study this matter in fine detail," he added.
The scandal has, no doubt, tarnished the reputation of L-Sporto, the organisers of the controversial match on Sunday, given the way they had promoted the match since last year and even insisted on having the match when the Warriors were at full strength with the likes of captain Peter Ndlovu.
Entry charges were hiked with the VIP tickets selling at a record $75 000.
Zifa chief executive, Edgar Rogers, said that the December 21 match was postponed at the request of L-Sporto, the official kit suppliers for the Warriors, as El Salvador could not bring in their full first team to engage a second string Zimbabwe side.
"They said because of the marketing strategy targeted for the matches involving the Warriors and the fact that El Salvador were bringing their full first team, they would rather have the match postponed to a later date when the foreign-based players will be available," explained Rogers at that time.
The El Salvador Football Federation claims the impostors hoodwinked the Zimbabwean authorities into believing they were the genuine national squad.
Instead the team which came has been described as "a rag-tag bunch" made up of players from several different teams - including some who were "between clubs" although they will be happy to have scrambled a goalless draw against the toothless Warriors.
Meanwhile, after failing to deliver a kit to the Warriors on Sunday as promised, L-Sporto says the kit is now ready for collection from China where it was manufactured. L-Sporto local representative, Felix Sapao, said yesterday that he would be leaving for China today to get the consignment in the company of an official from Zifa.
"The kit is ready for collection and I am leaving tomorrow (today) together with a Zifa official to collect it from China where it was manufactured. My boss says that the kit cannot be flown from China without someone accompanying it and that is why I am going there.
"I am not sure who will accompany me from Zifa but I am sure Edgar Rogers will be able to give you the name," said Sapao.
Sapao distanced himself from the fake El Salvador team and directed all questions to George Gonzalez, the L-Sporto director of international games.
The Warriors were supposed to have received the kit before Sunday.s match but they ended up using kit from a local sports shop although it had the L-Sporto logo embroidered on the jerseys which was done at the last minute. Zifa and L-Sporto on November 3 last year signed what became the biggest-ever sponsorship deal in the history of Zimbabwean football.
In the seven-year deal worth US$4,5 million in cash, kit and equipment, the Italian sportswear company would become the official kit sponsor of all Zimbabwe.s national football teams.
Under the deal, Zifa are supposed to receive kit for the Nations Cup finals and US$100 000 in cash before the start of the tournament. On the other hand, Zifa are obliged to buy 25 000 Warriors jerseys from L-Sporto to sell to supporters and interested companies, an arrangement some critics say is tantamount to the football association sponsoring itself given the cost of buying the replica jerseys from the sponsor.
The late arrival of the kit will also affect the sale of the replica jerseys to the public, as many would have preferred to have the kit well before the start of the continental showcase and already there are lots of cheap locally made jerseys on sale around the country.
Negotiations for a similar deal fell through in Ghana in 2002 as the Ghana Football Association contested the requirement that they buy jerseys from L-Sporto.
Other established kit suppliers like Nike, Reebok, and Adidas actually provide free replica jerseys as part of sponsorship packages.
