Four football clubs have benefitted 1, 000, 000, 000 (one billion Leones) sponsorship from Orange Sierra Leone, the country’s leading telecoms company. The company will also provide two speed box and 100GB monthly to the four clubs to make internet facility available as the games play.
The games will also be broadcast on all partner radio stations, and push SMs with links for Sierra Leoneans to watch the local premier league games live. Key matches will also be shown on orange facebook page.
FC Kallon, Johansen, Diamond and Wusum Stars are the lucky clubs chosen out of nearly 20 football clubs in the country. The sponsorship will last for three years. The Orange offer is the tip of an iceberg as more clubs stand to benefit in the near future.
The sponsorship is also part of the company’s passion of promoting and strengthening football in Sierra Leone. Since its arrival in the country in 2016, the company is known for supporting brilliant initiatives and putting smiles on the faces of Sierra Leoneans as well as organisations with the aim of developing Sierra Leone. The four clubs were chosen owing to their impressive performance and fan base they have had to their credit over the years.
In a ceremony held yesterday at Orange headquaters in Freetown, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Orange Sierra Leone, Aminata Kane Ndiaye said the sponsorship was borne out of the love for football which she saw as a unifier.
“Football is part of Sierra Leone’s DNA. We love the game and it has served as a mechanism to bring us together in good times and in not-so-good times,” CEO Ndiaye told the audience.
Football, she went on, had thrived owing to the love from the people as well as support from President Julius Maada Bio, hard work of football authorities and the dedication of the clubs to the game. As football grows fast in the country, she hopes that the game is fastly becoming one of the greatest prides in Sierra Leone.
The Orange CEO also informed the audience that the partnership between Orange Sierra Leone and football clubs has existed for three years adding that she would keep on improving on it.
“Through Orange Sierra Leone, the game will grow in all aspects, Large financial support will be provided and the association will be strengthened, and we will continually record wins,” she assured.
Orange Sierra Leone remains highly confident that the partnership it has established with the clubs would be great as good things are expected to come out of it. “We look forward to a great partnership and a win in all our games. We believe that this is the continuation of all beautiful things as we are certain that it will get more beautiful for the clubs, stakeholders, fans and Orange Sierra Leone,” the CEO expressed hope.
The Orange CEO also commended sporting authorities in the country including Vice President of Sierra Leone, Dr Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh for their commitment to games and sports. She also expressed her desire to extend support to other sporting disciplines in the country.
Officials of the four lucky clubs were elated for the big-time offer for which they expressed their determination to work with the company for the game to play. FC Kallon Secretary-General, Alhaji Komba said the Orange support came at a time it was needed most.
He referred to the sponsorship as the best. “We have been searching and knocking on doors, and now we have got the opportunity,” he informed the audience.
He made reference to the support provided by Orange Sierra Leone nine years ago which led to the generation of the current football team under the ‘Orange Football Special’ scheme. Komba also assured Orange Sierra Leone that the company would not regret for partnering with the clubs. “The partnership will be demonstrated on-and-off the pitch to give Orange the partnership it deserves,” he assured.
Mohamed Papa Bangura, Secretary-General for Wusum Stars said the Orange sponsorship would make them pull through, and thus highly excited to be chosen among the rest. Bangura also spoke about how lack of funding negatively impacted on their performance on the pitch years back.
“We relegated in 2012 owing to lack of sponsorship, we fought hard and came back to the competition,” Bangura recounted.
Sponsorship, he went on, had been a major problem for the growth of football in Sierra Leone. Thus, the Orange sponsorship is an opportunity Wusum Stars would surely capitalise on to make their presence felt in the soccer world.
Bangura however assured the company of popularising Orange Sierra Leone in the north-eastern part of the country by making people see the need to go for Orange SIMs and other products and services provided by the company. Representatives of the two other clubs who got the Orange cake also expressed sentiments of good will appreciation.
Speaking at the ceremony, Dr Abdul Rahman Swarray, Deputy Executive Director of the National Sports Authority and former Secretary-General of the Sierra Leone Football Association said the partnership between Orange Sierra Leone and the premier league clubs was just the beginning.
He hopes to see great things in the near future saying “Orange has a big heart.”
Swarray also alluded to ‘Orange Football Special’ during which prizes were won by Premier league clubs and the Premier League Board too. This great interest shown by the company in the football of Sierra Leone, Dr Swarray said would offer the company a business advantage over others.
“We will provide you with the mileage so that you can have an edge over your competitors,” the NSA Director assured the company. Dr Swarray also commended the company for its role in ensuring that ordinary Sierra Leoneans watch the African Cup of Nations games in Cameroon.
“The least man was allowed into Orange facilities to watch the games in Cameroon,” Dr Swarray commended Orange Sierra Leone.
He went on to inform the audience that most corporate bodies were not interested in sponsoring football in Sierra Leone except Orange which has made it presence felt. He called on the company to do more so that it could gain a conducive business environment. “If you want your impact to be felt more, you have to do more,” Dr Swarray Appealed.
In his address, Minister of Sports, Ibrahim Nyelenke described Orange Sierra Leone’s sponsorship of the clubs as a great hospitality.
“I have no doubt in Orange Sierra Leone as this is not the first time the club is sponsoring football clubs,” The minister noted.
The company, Nyelenke continued, had done great work and called on the clubs to take advantage of the opportunity and play within the rules and regulations of the game. He said Orange was a co-sponsor to the AFCON games in Cameroon for which he was highly appreciative. The minister also appealed to the company to consider the development of infrastructure in the football world adding that the only national stadium in the country had fallen into disrepairs.
Other football fields in the city and elsewhere, he went on, renovation for Sierra Leone to be at par with other countries. He also reiterated the call for Orange Sierra Leone to consider those teams that have been left out of the sponsorship. Signing of MOUs between the CEO and officials of the sponsored clubs formed part of the occasion.