Vodacom to award VPL winners of various categories in the 2012/13 Mainland Premier League (VPL) are expected to receive their prizes on Wednesday next week, the league’s main sponsor Vodacom Tanzania said on Monday.
Vodacom Premier League
Vodacom’s External Affairs Manager Salum Mwalim said the prize giving ceremony was delayed due to the national soccer team, Taifa Stars, participation in the 2014 World Cup qualifiers.
“Most of the Taifa Stars players belong to the VPL teams. It would only be fair for us to give them enough time to prepare for the World Cup then handover the prizes when they are not occupied,” said Mwalim.
He said that all the necessary preparations have been done and the stage is set to have the prizes handed over to the various winners of the 2012/13 VPL.
“We thank all those that we have worked with in the ended season, including the clubs, Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) and the League Committee, for their patience as we worked to settle on a date to handover the prizes,” Mwalim explained.
“This exercise is very critical to us and we always need to conduct is when everything is set and when everyone is ready,” he added.
Vodacom has set aside 200m/- to award various teams, players, coaches and other officials who stood out during the 2012/13 VPL.
League winners Young Africans will walk away with the grand prize of 70m/- while first runners-up Azam FC will pocket 35m/ and second runners-up Simba will get 25m/-.
The top flight league, which featured 14 teams, will see the best player, best goal keeper, and best scorer get 5m/- each. In addition, the best referee and the best coach will each get 7.5m/-.
Yanga clinched a record 24th league title with a massive 60 points haul as they dethroned archrivals Simba, who finished in third place.
The Jangwani Street outfit also received 25m/- from their sponsors Kilimanjaro Premium Lager last month for their title success. The cash bonus is part of a 1.5bn/- sponsorship package the club signed with the sponsor and aimed at encouraging the club to strive for more triumphs.
Simba, who are also sponsored by Kilimanjaro Premium Lager, missed out on a 15m/- bonus due to their failure to finish in second place, a prerequisite to get the money as stipulated in the contract the clubs entered with the company.
Source Tanzania Daily News
