The Zimbabwe Football Association has agreed a three-year kit sponsorship deal with British sportswear and equipment manufacturer Umbro as part of an ongoing effort to reposition itself as a powerhouse in the south of the continent.
Umbro will provide kit for all of Zimbabwe’s national teams, along with replica kit for fans to purchase.
The deal represents a return to ZIFA for Umbro, with a previous deal expiring in 2013, while it also ends a period during which Zimbabwe’s teams wore unbranded kits of relatively low quality.
“We went to South Africa last week where we engaged quite a number of kit sponsors and we settled for Umbro because they were giving us the best deal,” ZIFA president Felton Kamambo said, according to local newspaper The Herald.
“We are optimistic that our partnership with Umbro will enhance our visibility as a football brand. Umbro has the capacity to provide replicas for our supporters, unlike previously when it was almost impossible to get national team football jerseys.
“We have agreed on a five-per-cent revenue of the replica sales. This will be revised each year, the five per cent was just the starting point. The bulk of the other kit sponsors were (offering) far much less than that.
“Even Umbro initially were much less than the five per cent but from the negotiations we managed to get that. We will also get some discounts if we buy replicas in bulk for resale.”