Ferwafa, Tele 10 sponsorship deal stalls

-The $1.2m deal is the biggest sponsorship deal in Rwandan Football -Bralirwa has also agreed a Rwf179m deal with Ferwafa -If deals are signed, they will change the face of football in Rwanda Rwanda Football Association and Tele 10 Group sponsorship deal has been put on hold after different broadcasters complained of unfairness in the awarding of the National Football League broadcasting rights to Tele 10 Group. Ferwafa and Tele 10 which owns a TV and radio station agreed a 3-year deal to broadcast the National Football League that started last week. However, local broadcasters led by the Rwanda Broadcasting Agency (RBA) accused Ferwafa officials of going against an earlier agreement where all broadcasters had been asked to submit bids for rights to broadcast the league. “We attended a meeting last month where Ferwafa asked us to submit bids for the rights to air the league. We asked Ferwafa to give us guidelines but we didn’t get any response until we read in the media that they had agreed a deal with Tele 10,” Jean Butoyi, Head of Programmes at RBA told this paper. Journalists, who had been invited to witness the signing of the Ferwafa-Tele10 deal, were sent away without anything after waiting for hours at the Ministry of Sports boardroom. Dubious deal The Ferwafa-Tele10 sponsorship deal is shrouded in mystery according to a source privy to the details of deal who chose to remain anonymous because he is not allowed to speak publicly about it. “Tele10 has agreed to give Ferwafa $1.2m over 3 years with the Football Association getting $300,000 this season, $400,000 next year and $500,000 in the 2017/18 season, but where can a company like Tele 10 get that sort of money?” the source wondered. He hinted that it is likely that Tele10 wants to sell the rights to continental pay per view sports TV Supersport for more than double what they are offering. Tele10 TV started operations last year and does not have the necessary equipment like OB van and professional cameras to broadcast live matches. In an interview with Times Sport, Ferwafa president Vincent Nzamwita confirmed that the two parties had indeed agreed a $1.2m over 3-years and further said that if another broadcaster buys rights from Tele 10 then Ferwafa will get 10% from such a deal. Bralirwa and Ferwafa agree deal Meanwhile, Ferwafa and Bralirwa have agreed a Rwf179m deal for the Brewery company to sponsor the league this season. Bralirwa had pulled out of sponsoring the league for unclear reasons and it took the intervention of Sports Minister Joseph Habineza for the company to rescind the earlier decision.