Be Forward have announced that they will stop sponsoring Be Forward Wanderers in December.
The Japanese second hand car dealer have been sponsoring the club for the past five years but the marriage will come to an end in December due to what they call “financial crisis” caused by the Coronavirus.
Wanderers Chairman Symon Sikwese was quoted by Frank Kandu of MBC, saying the club has officially received the communication from BE Forward.
“Yes, we have received the communication from BE Forward that they will stop sponsoring the club from December this year,” he said.
Asked on what the future holds for the club, Sikwese said: “We have to adapt to the current situation and one of the ways to survive is to engage our supporters to try to atleast contribute K100 per month so that we keep running the club. We have more than 1 million supporters in the country who can contribute to the success of the club without depending on sponsors. We would also want to engage the Board of Trustees on how we can be using our club house to raise funds for the club,” he was quoted.
It all started in March when the sponsors announced a 50% salary pay cut due to Covid-19 pandemic only to effect a 60% salary cut.
A month later, BE Forward, through its country representative and former General Secretary of the club Mike Butao, told Wanderers management that the sponsors were planning to suspend the sponsorship within three months, a development that saw a massive protest from Sikwese-led administration.
Perhaps, this signified BE Forward’s intent to walk out of the deal which started way back in 2014.
And true to their words, the Japanese company told the club’s management that they would be walking out of the deal by the end of 2020.
With the 2020 season yet to kick off due to the same pandemic, the club will likely bank their hopes on supporters who have already been heavily involved in the operations of the club ever since a 60% salary pay cut was effected on the players.
