SOUTH AFRICA GOVERNMENT PURSUING SPONSOR DEAL WITH TOTTENHAM

Following in the footsteps of the United Arab Emirates, Rwanda, Malta, and other nations that have utilized the world’s top soccer league to promote their nations, the South African government is negotiating a sponsorship arrangement with Premier League club Tottenham.

The South African Ministry of Tourism announced on Wednesday that it was seeking to reach an agreement with Tottenham through SA Tourism, the nation’s agency for promoting travel.

According to South African media estimates, the agreement would be worth $52 million over three years beginning with the 2023–2024 season and would, among other things, grant SA Tourism branding space on Tottenham’s shirt. The Ministry of Tourism withheld the deal’s financial information and stated that government final approval is still required.

The ministry stated that the plan was to end the memorandum of agreement with Tottenham.

The two official airlines of the UAE, Emirates and Etihad, are the primary sponsors of Manchester City and Arsenal, respectively. Tottenham’s opponent in north London, Arsenal, has a “Visit Rwanda” inscription on its jersey sleeve.

Malta, an island country in the Mediterranean, will be promoted by Manchester United.

A South African opposition party denounced the proposed arrangement, claiming that the money involved—more than 900 million South African rand—represented close to 40% of SA Tourism’s budget. Who will profit from some of the other benefits of the agreement for South Africa was another concern raised by the party, ActionSA.

The benefit that officials and politicians will have from the agreement, such as having access to stadium hospitality and tickets to Tottenham Hotspur games in London, is “arguably more important,” according to ActionSA.

After the COVID-19 pandemic-related travel lockdowns severely hurt the country’s significant tourism industry, SA Tourism has been working to promote South Africa. In order to advertise South Africa to potential foreign tourists, SA Tourism has also teamed with the streaming provider Netflix.