Times Of Swaziland: INSTACASH INJECTS E350K FOR SCHOOLS SOCCER

INSTACASH INJECTS E350K FOR SCHOOLS SOCCER
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Nimrod Hlophe on 08/12/2022 07:54:00


MBABANE – It is the biggest sponsorship by InstaCash so far – E350 000 for
schools soccer.
Eswatini Schools Sports Association (ESSA) has made the biggest catch from the
new and independent mobile money service provider InstaCash as they have
clinched the largest sponsorship. InstaCash has announced their arrival in local
business with a bang as they had been making investments with various sports,
mainly football in all the four regions of the country.
Just last week, the company took many by surprise and had people wondering when
they would venture into the country’s top flight football when they launched a
E200 000 sponsorship for social teams festive soccer tournament.
That was not the last launch as yesterday they launched yet another windfall, a
massive E350 000 sponsorship package directed to ESSA for soccer competitions.
“It is the first year of the sponsorship and the association will actually
break it down and release the details. With the other sporting codes, I’ve
told you what I want to achieve, if we achieve that then we can have more money
for them. Whether this competition goes forward next year, it depends on how
much you have put into it,” InstaCash Managing Director Mandla ‘Cheeks’
Nxumalo said.
The tournament will be played in two stages, where there will be an open
category for high schools. The schools will first compete in their 15 different
branch zones with the winners from each zone qualifying for the second stage.
The second phase will be the last 16, where teams will be divided into groups of
four.  The InstaCash MD said the sixth team will be the one with the highest
recruited clients per branch zone.
Reacting to the kind gesture that brings schools football back into the fray
since 2019, as sports were banned for nearly two years due to COVID-19, ESSA
President Anthony Mdluli thanked InstaCash for the new partnership and promised
that they would protect it so it lasts long and also spreads to the other
sporting codes. “InstaCash came at the right time when we’re still fresh
from the COVID-19 break which made us unable to play for the past two years
while this year, we were playing at minimal level. We believe that we’ll
return to full force next year.” Mdluli said.
Elaborated
The ESSA president further elaborated that the winners from each zone will then
face off in the semi-finals. He confirmed that Group A winner will be play Group
C winner, while Group B and D winners will face each other. However, the details
of the playing format will be made clearer in due time as they still had to sit
and draft the rules and regulations. The Ministry of Education and Training
(MoET) showed appreciation to the sponsor. The MoET Acting Senior Inspector,
Sports and Culture Dumisane Hadzebe also requested InstaCash to assist them
develop teachers as coaches.