Mato Madlala has broken her silence as to why Lamontville Golden Arrows have been playing without a technical sponsor for the last five years.
The Arrows chairman also insisted she is not bothered at all about playing without such a sponsor.
“When it comes to a technical sponsor, no-one will use me for that. I can’t allow a situation where someone will give me two shorts and two golf T-shirts and a tracksuit and inform me that I must buy 1 000 replicas. If you calculate the amount that I will use to buy these replicas, it is massive. It’s bigger than the sponsorship that they are offering to me. If they are saying they are sponsoring me, I have to put up their billboards at our matches. One board per season, it is about R5 million. In some of the league matches we sell it for R15m,” Madlala articulated.
In the past, Arrows were sponsored by Umbro and Hummels.
“The value that the sponsor will get for sponsoring my team is R5m. In return you will find that I’m getting a R500 000 kit but I’m giving them R5m minimum and on top of that, I still have to buy 1 000 replicas. I don’t sell, the only thing I do is play football. They need to understand what they want from me. If they want mileage, I will give them mileage but I don’t have to pay for it. If they want me to put the boards at our games, they need to understand the value of the board. The stuff that they supply me with must be half of what I give them in return,” she added.
Arrows are using a no-name brand to kit out their teams.
“I won’t give people value of R5m and they give me R500 000 in return because I want to have a tick on my kit or a puma. There’s not a single one of them that hasn’t offered me a proposal. Obviously, I don’t know the arrangements of other teams. They all come with the same things that I’ve mentioned. So, I won’t be stupid and accept that, never. Why would I do that? Because I want to say I’m sponsored? No, I’m not sponsored but I’m sponsoring myself,” Madlala explained.
Arrows are in the Telkom Knockout semi-finals and they will be hoping to attract more sponsors if they can go all the way.
“Why should I sponsor people and on top of that give them money. The majority of them are unrealistic. They want us to buy replicas and sell them. I don’t sell. They want to get two boards in our matches. One board is R5m. If they are two, it is R10m. Have you seen any team wearing a kit close to R5m? Why would I get into that deal? Most of these sponsors, their kits are designed at the same place where I design mine. There are none made in China or Germany,” Madlala explained.
“Why when they get to me do they expect me to pay for them? I’m basically buying my kits and giving them more. They want me to say, ‘I thank Puma or Nike’. No, I won’t do that. I’m not new to football. I won’t allow a situation where I’m exploited. That’s pure exploitation,” Madlala concluded.